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| Peyton Place |
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| Vintage paperback |
September 24, 1996 marked the 40th anniversary of the publication of PEYTON PLACE, Grace Metalious' landmark shocker about
life in a small New England town.
Because it took on subjects such as abortion, alcoholism, incest, domestic violence, and homosexuality, PEYTON PLACE immediately
unleashed a storm of controversy.
This was strong stuff for the placid 1950's, an era when tabloid TV and trash media weren't the pervasive influence they
are today. Soon, the pony-tailed mother of three came under attack from book censors and busybodies across the country.
PEYTON PLACE earned the distinction of being the first book ever banned in the entire state of Rhode Island.
In Boston, where PEYTON PLACE was also banned, word went out that it "was not only not a book for children, it wasn't
a book for adults, either."
Serious critics, on the other hand, tended to dismiss PEYTON PLACE as a conventional potboiler, although many of them
rather admired the skill of the prose. A typical highbrow reaction came from Hemingway biographer Carlos Baker, who reviewed
it for the New York Times:
"If Mrs. Metalious can turn her emancipated talents to less lurid purposes, her future as a novelist is a good bet."
Sensual and uninhibited, PEYTON PLACE is the finest work of an author who wrote forcefully about authentic human triumphs
and tragedies for millions of readers around the world.
Grace Metalious' personal life was as tumultuous as the characters she described. First husband George Metalious supported
and encouraged Grace but became expendable when success arrived.
Grace divorced George and married T. J. Martin, a suave radio personality and trophy husband of the first rank. After
running through most of the fortune Grace earned from PEYTON PLACE, Martin vanished from her life, along with his expensive
wardrobe.
Grace remarried George in 1960 and then divorced him again. No chance existed of the second marriage working out, as
jealousy had ruined their relationship. In the book George wrote with June O'Shea, he admitted that he once photographed Grace
in bed with Martin.
PEYTON PLACE immortalizes George Metalious as the dark and virile Greek educator, Michael Rossi. Sexy blond widow Constance
MacKenzie, a dress shop owner, becomes the object of Rossi's attentions. Rossi wins her love after a difficult courtship:
"Untie the top of your bathing suit," he said harshly. "I want to feel your breasts against me when I kiss
you."
Grace Metalious was born Grace de Repentigny on September 8, 1924 in Manchester, New Hampshire. She married George Metalious
at age eighteen to escape her domineering mother, Laurette. She also happened to be pregnant, giving birth to daughter Marsha
in 1943.
Two other children followed. By the time Grace was 26 she had a son, Christopher "Mike" Metalious, born in 1947
and another daughter, Cynthia, in 1950.
Bursting with creative energy after child number three, Grace began writing the stories that were later incorporated into
PEYTON PLACE. Within five years she was able to fashion one of the most sensational literary blockbusters of all time.
By age thirty two, Grace Metalious had won international fame as the author of PEYTON PLACE. She contributed to GLAMOUR
magazine and wrote autobiographical pieces for AMERICAN WEEKLY.
Other novels followed in rapid succession--RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE in 1959, THE TIGHT WHITE COLLAR in 1960, and the last,
NO ADAM IN EDEN, published just before her death in February, 1964.
An honest approach to sex is surely one of the hallmarks of her fiction. Sexual desire permeates the stories, though handled
in a straight and strongly feminine style. Another aspect of her fiction shows how sexual feeling is used to manipulate others,
an idea that is rarely touched upon in conventional romance novels.
In one memorable scene, Peyton Place bad girl Betty Anderson teases rich boy Rodney Harrington before humiliating him:
"Is it up, Rod?" Betty asked. "Is it up good and hard?"
At its core, Grace's masterpiece PEYTON PLACE is a study in human hypocrisy. What people pretend to be versus what they
really are is examined unsparingly. The result is none too pretty. As Grace herself once told an interviewer:
"I write about people the way I do because there are a great many more ugly human beings than beautiful ones. I just
write the truth as I see it. There are no two ways about the truth. It's either true or it's a lie."
Although the term was then unknown, Grace's character Nellie Cross is one of the best examples in modern American literature
of domestic violence.
Nellie's husband Lucas Cross is the main villain of the novel. Drunken, brutal Lucas is man who justifies the rape of
his stepdaughter as merely getting his "due." Unable to protect Selena from his lechery and beaten down by years
of abuse, Nellie hangs herself in a closet.
Lesser villians also populate Peyton Place, including mill owner Leslie Harrington, his spoiled son Rodney, bitchy Evelyn
Page, and a wide collection of town gossips, snitches, and snoops.
PEYTON PLACE characters are ordinary in their occupations. Teacher, doctor, dress shop owner, millhand--Grace's people
don't have to inherit pharmaceutical empires or copulate with Hollywood moguls to be consistently interesting.
A critical re-appraisal of Grace Metalious is long overdue. Her work is entirely neglected, compared with the flood of
attention given the "beat" writers who were her contemporaries--William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg,
and others.
Strangely enough, many similarities exist between Metalious and Jack Kerouac, who was two years her senior. Massachusetts
born Kerouac was also of French Canadian descent and like Grace, came from a deeply religious Catholic background. Both had
to cope with a domineering mother, as children and as adults.
Beyond that, in their books both writers project contempt for the society they live in, challenging it at every turn.
Nevertheless, Kerouac's work seems less mature. While he ran around the country with his male buddies seeking thrills,
Grace stayed home, reared children, and contemplated her life in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
"It seems like I've been raising children forever," she said.
A small but growing respect for her work exists in academic circles. Associate professor of Creative Writing Rich Daniels
at Oregon State University believes PEYTON PLACE is underrated.
"Grace Metalious anticipated the kind of openness we take for granted today," Daniels says. "In the repressive
culture of the 1950's, it wasn't polite to expose things she tackles in PEYTON PLACE. It makes the novel quite a page-turner."
Grace's best novel shares the qualities of such American classics as HUCK FINN, LITTLE WOMEN, MAIN STREET, and UNCLE TOM'S
CABIN. Read as an evocation of a particular time and place, PEYTON PLACE is practically without peer.
It is the job of the true literary artist to be ahead of the crowd, to tell us who we are and warn us about where we are
going.
Only mediocre practitioners restrict themselves to escapism. In spite of her occasional failings, Grace Metalious merits
the title of true literary artist. The generally poor opinion of her work among critics appears to contain some measure of
disdain for her success. The beat writers enjoy much greater critical acclaim.
Metalious sold 300,000 hardcover copies and over nine million paperbacks of PEYTON PLACE. That is literary success on
a grand scale.
However popular she may have been, Grace Metalious wrote her novels honestly, as a serious artist who saw things clearly.
Her achievement with PEYTON PLACE has survived the censors but her critical reputation lags behind.
People who love American literature should now recognize the worth of this talented writer. Grace Metalious did more than
simply create a successful novel. She foresaw the day when every human heart would be revealed to harbor a little PEYTON PLACE.
Mike Bonner of Eugene, Oregon contributes articles on popular subjects to a variety of publications.
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