Rating: 
Summary: "A LADY SAYS YES" *
Review: As Jackie Susann's biographer, I was almost afraid to read SHADOW OF THE DOLLS. I wanted to like it-- because I wanted it to be a book that Jackie would like- but I couldn't imagine that ANY sequel would equal VD (the nickname attached to her original manuscript by her editor, Don Preston.) My affection for Jackie is such that for the15 years since publication of LOVELY ME, I have been "taking heat" for comparing Jackie to novelist, Theodore Dreiser . I wrote: - ":Like Jackie he believed he was exposing the corruption of his times. And like Jackie he had that certain something, that one in a million narrative drive....VD...stands as an early storm signal of both the drug culture and the women's movement. Jackie had something to say and she said it, and if she did not say it artfully, she said it compellingly...." These days,- happily,- fewer people laugh at my Dreiser comparison, and many historians and critics acknowledge that (in her own way) Jackie, while larger than life, was a true original, a gutbucket pioneer of women's liberation, a publishing pathfinder, as well as a deeply touching, even heroic human being. Hooray! We needn't read Jackie by flashlight under the covers anymore! College students are required to study VD for their courses on the 1960s. For credit! So, how can you compete with VD, - the most-unlikely best -sellling novel of the 20th century, and, on many levels, a landmark book? The answer is you can't-- but you can be faithful to the style, the intent, the characters the worldview and the delicious page-turning readability .. . Rae Lawrence (aka Ruth Liebmann) has given us a highly intelligent and consistent re-rendering of Jackie's universe. - the emptiness and unreliability of wealth and celebrity, the ubiquity of drugs, the perfidy of the alpha male, the dialogue that captures character, the blackly humorous unexpected twists in the story line. Rae also shares Jackie's gift for establishing the atmosphere of the haunts and hangouts of celebrity high-players, their jealousies , disappointments, nightmares, obsessions... In my opinion Jackie would be tickled with this book, she would be honored that Rae is faithful to her original vision ( with the exception that Jackie had more respect and affection for Anne, while Rae prefers Neely) The Jackie I know would absolutely adore the ironic consumations , contortions, and conclusions of SHADOW . Indeed, she might half- wish she had thought of them herself, and she'd be most appreciative that Rae did. I cannot reveal what these books-end surprises may be ,because I don't want to spoil your fun. But I anticipate that many readers may agree: "Ah yes, of course. This is exactly how it had to turn out.. This is what had to be. This is what would become of Neely and Anne." *Title of the 1944 Broadway play in which Jackie was featured with Carole Landis, on whom Jennifer North was partially based.
Rating: 
Summary: Missed Opportunity
Review: This could have been a great follow on. Characters we all love, story already developed. So what happened? The best plot turns were glazed over and the characters were never shown with any emotion. The author should have re-read the first novel a few more times and gotten the cadence and the plot turns and characters reactions to the turns down. This just came out as a poor poor follow up that left me wondering, why bother... If you need a beach book, go for the new Jackie Collins...this just does not cut it!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Afternoon
Review: Of course it isn't Jackie...probably no one will ever even come close...but it was a kick just the same. Like visiting old friends with whom you've completely lost touch... Ms. Lawrence has managed to remain very true to the tone and style of the original, even with the liberties taken with the time frame.
Rating: 
Summary: Shadow of a Book
Review: This book is fun - in an eating-cotton-candy-is-fun sort of way. Having read the original, I was greedy for information on Anne and Neely and Lyon and I got plenty of that, but gosh, did no one in this book feel anything? They went through some tough times - with no tears, hardly a moist eye. Pages and pages of really shallow people. It was as though Ms. Lawrence ran a butter knife across the heads of her characters, then tried to pass them off as real people. Even Lyon, the cad, deserved a little depth.
Rating:
Summary: Had its moments, but kind of empty
Review: The original Valley was one of my favorite all-time books, and I had my doubts that anyone could write a good sequel, but I remembered reading Rae Lawrence's "Satisfaction" years ago and enjoying it. I could even live with the critics' warnings that the characters were only ten years older in 1987 than they had been when the first story ended. That was grossly incorrect. The original Valley started in September 1945. Anne was 20, Neely 17. When it ended on New Years' Day 1965 Anne was 39 and Neely 36. Fast forward 22 years. Anne is 34 and Neely younger than that, so they weren't 10 years older, they were YOUNGER. A dozen lost years I could deal with, but this is just silly. Trying to cram the original story in a span of 3 or 4 years is impossible (and will someone tell Ms. Lawrence it was Kevin GILLMORE, not GILLIAN, who founded the Gillian cosmetics line.) Some snappy dialogue here and there, the same ridiculous fear of aging (I know some people age fast, but the average 35-year-old does NOT need to see a plastic surgeon to remove forehead lines,) and a few couple of good, unexpected plot turns, but at the end I was left with an empty feeling, i.e., "Is that all there is?"
Rating: 
Summary: Keep This In The Shadows
Review: If you haven't already read Valley Of The Dolls, this supposed sequel will make no sense at all. The author relies too heavily on reader's past knowledge of the novel. That said, I found it incredibly hard to wrap my head around "Shadow" and I've read the original "Valley" about a dozen times. The characters have not been properly aged. I disagree that this is a conceit Jacqueline Susann would have approved of. The women of "Valley" dealt head on with issues ranging from infidelity to breast cancer to suicide. Surely they could have easily taken on aging ten years later. Not only do these characters not age, they still speak as if they were in the sixties, using expressions like "in the kip". While some would argue that "Valley Of The Dolls" is trashy fun, "Shadow Of The Dolls" is simply garbage. It's inane and silly. Ms. Susann's book was full of substance, through the trash one could sense that she was trying to communicate something. At the very least, she captured the imaginations of a generation. Rae Lawrence has captured nothing. Poor Jacqueline is rolling in her grave.
Rating:
Summary: In the Shadow of a Giant
Review: It's hard to follow up such a classic novel like Valley of the Dolls. Rae Lawrence keeps in the spirit of the original, though "takes liberties" with age, time and place. It's an entertaining read and follows the path of Anne Wells and Neely O'Hara as they go through their thirties (wink, wink) in the eighties and nineties. Marriages are broken and remade, the children left over from the original grow to be as dysfunctional as their parents and just as entertaining. And no one has forgotten the power of those wonderful, wonderful dolls. However, this sequel seems to be bastardized by the recent cult of wannabe Jacqueline Susann writers... The characters spend too much time navel-gazing in the Hamptons and not enough rising and falling as in the original. And with the "liberties taken," it's easy to feel slighted as characters reminisce of the late seventies and early eighties. Overall it's decent, but check the book out from the library or buy it used...
Rating:
Summary: RETURN OF THE DOLLS!!
Review: Wow. Neely, Lyon, and Anne are back in this summer's ... read. Although many years have passed since the origingal "Valley of the Dolls", Rae Lawrence proves that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Here we find Anne Welles realising that the past she thought she ran away from years ago will always be there to haunt her. Lyon is still the same playboy he always was, (not a good thing to be when you are married), and Neely O'Hara decides being a singer in the theatre isn't all that much--not when you can be a big star in Hollywood. All the vices, bitchery, and deception are there, with a couple of plot twists thrown in for good measure. I stayed up till three a.m., unable to put this book down until it was finished. And when it was finshed....I wanted MORE!! Hard-core "Valley" fans may be disappointed at the lack of shock and scandal in this volume, compared to the original, but it is no less satisfying for it.
Rating:
Summary: Susann deserved MUCH better than this. So do you.
Review: Valley of the Dolls is one of the most memorable favorites in my collection, and that may be why reading Lawrence's travesty of a sequel upset me so profoundly. This book is almost a parody of Valley of the Dolls; the scenes are blatant ... from Susann's work, pirated without grace, talent, or respect. Although Valley of the Dolls has been criticized for using "shallow" subject matter to dramatize poigniant themes, Shaow of the Dolls is simply shallow subject matter with nothing to hold it together. Lawrence haphazardly ignores directives of the original in this retelling, corrupting both physical (Anne Welles becomes a brunette for no clear reason) and thematic (Anne lost her unrelenting morality along the way and has stooped to stealing chessecakes from rivals) detail. This makes Shadow of the Dolls a very frustrating read for a fan of the original. Even if you haven't read teh original, the writing is poor and lacks teh realism that made Susann's work a classic - Jackie had been there, while thei woman has obviously read too many fashion magazines. Avoid this novel at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Entertained and Dazzled - but not as Good as the Original
Review: I began reading Shadow of the Dolls with a very open mind, knowing, of course, that no book could ever replace the original's humor and tone. I was mostly right, although this is a story that continues to be interesting, even years after the original book. Ms. Lawrence does an excellent job of updating the plot (although the ages are somewhat misleading, even though she admits in the forward that some liberties were taken) and transforming these memorable characters for the next generation of readers. Those loyal to the original "Valley of the Dolls" will long for the wit and biting sarchasm of that legendary volume, while new readers will revel in the way these characters intertine and mature over the course of the novel. I recommend this book for light, summer reading, and just can't help wondering who will be cast in the movie - not IF there is a movie, but WHEN there is a movie.
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