Anne does not want to marry him but he talks her into wearing his ring and considering marriage. When Neely takes over, she is a critical success her career takes off.Īllen Cooper reveals to Anne that he is a millionaire who kept his wealth secret to make sure the woman he proposes to says yes for him and not for his money.

Helen Lawson decides that the actress in that role is drawing attention away from her and manages to get her to quit. Neely is hired as a dancer in a show starring Helen Lawson, a famous actress who is also a client of Bellamy and Bellows, but ends up as the understudy to a major role. Jennifer North, a model who breaks into acting despite the fact that she cannot sing, dance, or act, is a client. Anne is courted by Allen Cooper but falls in love with Lyon Burke, a former employee of Henry Bellamy's who has returned from fighting in World War II. She rents a modest room at a boarding house, where she meets the teenage Ethel 'Neely' O'Neill, a struggling dancer. She goes to work at the theatrical law firm of Bellamy and Bellows, and quickly becomes indispensable to its head, Henry Bellamy. 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.Īt age nineteen, Anne Welles leaves her hometown of Lawrenceville for the excitement of New York City.

The story spans twenty years, from 1945 to 1965, and is set primarily in New York City. The Valley of the Dolls is a novel about the friendship between three women, the perils and rewards of fame, and chemical dependency.

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