Peyton Place

By Grace Metalious

This book came out in 1956, although it is set in the late 1930s & early 1940s. It was an exposé of small town life in New England. Set in the fictitious town of Peyton Place, it focuses mainly on three people, Constance MacKenzie and her daughter Allison and Selena Cross. Constance is a prosperous shopkeeper with a secret, a secret that is unknown even to her daughter, Allison. Constance was never married. Selena Cross has a secret too. She was impregnated by her stepfather and had an abortion performed by the local physician, secretly of course, since abortion was not legal then. Allison doesn't really have any secrets but she makes up for it by being ultra-sensitive. Allison is so sensitive that she has to spend a week in the hospital when she discovers the housekeeper's dead body hanging in Allison's closet. The housekeeper hung herself when she finally faced the fact that her husband raped her daughter, Selena.
Yes, Peyton Place is chock full of secrets. Like the boy who enjoys the frequent enemas that his loving mommy is pleased to administer. Like the old lady who enjoys peeping at her neighbors as the man gives oral sex to his pregnant wife in their backyard. Like the high school principal who forces sex on a reluctant Constance for her own good. Like the mill owner who blackmails his employees into backing him in civic matters like zoning and schools. Yes, Peyton Place is a nasty place, but I guess the point of the novel is that nasty as it is, it is pretty typical.
Peyton Place was a shocker in its day. It is still a good story, though it comes across now as a bit soapy. It touches on almost all the sins of modern life: incest, child abuse, teen sex, hypocrisy, alcohol abuse. About the only thing missing is drug abuse. Religion even comes in for a few whacks when a protestant minister reverts to the religion of his childhood, Catholicism. And the local Pentecostals mistake a raving drunk who wanders into their church meeting for a prophet speaking in tongues. (That was actually a pretty funny scene as was the scene with the drunks on a bender in the cellar.) At times, I found the book a little dull and I didn't care for the oh so sensitive Allison. But still I am glad I read it.