Anne, September, 1945 Summary

The Valley of the Dolls is a novel about the friendship between three women, the perils and rewards of fame, and chemical dependency. The story spans twenty years, from 1945 to 1965, and is set primarily in New York City. Anne Welles, Neely O'Hara, and Jennifer North become friends and roommates, find fame, get married and take lovers, and turn to drugs to cope with problems they encounter.

The novel begins with a poem about how the road to "success" often leaves you too tired and sore to appreciate the goals you achieve, and that achievement is sometimes less rewarding than a struggle.

Anne Welles leaves Lawrenceville, Massachusetts for New York City at the age of nineteen to escape a life she perceives as stagnant and unfulfilled. She hopes for a life that she imagines will be exciting and glamorous. Her mother is...