book club 📖

Let's talk Valley of the Dolls...

Valley of the Dolls was published in
1966 trailing the end of Hollywood's
"Golden Age". It was the first novel
of author Jacqueline Susann and went 
on to become a bestseller that year.

Marked an American classic, VOTD
highlights the obsessive cycle of
addiction, love, and the force of
clinging to a woman's limelight of youthfulness.
At the time VOTD was labeled a controversial novel
due to its' darker themes that shed light on some
of the more unsavory bits of real-life Hollywood.
This honest, fast-paced, novel gives it to you
straight and doesn't promise to be anything
other than what it is, which is a melodrama.

I first picked up this novel back in 2013 during
my "Year of Lana" as I like to call it. Having
discovered LDR's music on Tumblr back in 2012, I
quickly was thrown into a melodic psychosis of
coquette dreams of old Hollywood glamour. LDR's
style was timeless yet revolutionary at the
time, breaking out of the neatly packaged box of
what mainstream music had in mind for female
artists. She quickly became a role model to me,
as many other teenagers of that time can relate
to. This adoration evoked an entire deep-dive
into Hollywood's Golden Age for me and the piece
of literature that kept popping up in my search
was Valley of the Dolls. I immediately ran to
Ebay in search of a first edition (seen above)
and found one from a vintage book collector,
modestly priced at $18. Two painstaking weeks of
waiting for the seller to ship this novel and I
could finally immerse myself into the world I
believed Lana was plucked from.

Needless to say, VOTD furthered my infatuation
with this time period, so much so that my inner
world to started to reflect it. My wardrobe
subtly began to change into more classic pieces,
letting leggings and Uggs fall by the wayside. I
was watching more movies from that time period
including Mildred Pierce (1945) and Double
Indemnity (1944). At the risk of sounding
cliche, this book shaped my youth.

If you find yourself curious and drawn to this
genre, may I offer up this fantastic,
throwing novel.

And while you're reading, may I suggest Lana's
unreleased "Valley of the Dolls"

All my love,

Swan Princess xx