LemonSky reviewed Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
Review of 'Peyton Place' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I watched the movie version of this a couple times, but wasn't terribly impressed. It struck me as just another sensationalist 50s movie made in an attempt to lure people away from TV. I bought a 1957 paperback edition of the novel to see if it was any different. It most definitely was. To be fair to the movie, you couldn't put most of "Peyton Place" on the screen back then. The book is much more frank, even bleak. Good characters don't necessarily win, and bad characters don't necessarily lose.
Allison Mackenzie is the main character - the illegitimate daughter of an emotionally distant mother, Constance Mackenzie (Lana Turner in the movie). Constance uses her married lover's name, and hides the fact that Allison, who was named for her father, was born out of wedlock. In some ways, it seems that Constance resents Allison. After all, if Allison had never …
I watched the movie version of this a couple times, but wasn't terribly impressed. It struck me as just another sensationalist 50s movie made in an attempt to lure people away from TV. I bought a 1957 paperback edition of the novel to see if it was any different. It most definitely was. To be fair to the movie, you couldn't put most of "Peyton Place" on the screen back then. The book is much more frank, even bleak. Good characters don't necessarily win, and bad characters don't necessarily lose.
Allison Mackenzie is the main character - the illegitimate daughter of an emotionally distant mother, Constance Mackenzie (Lana Turner in the movie). Constance uses her married lover's name, and hides the fact that Allison, who was named for her father, was born out of wedlock. In some ways, it seems that Constance resents Allison. After all, if Allison had never been born, Constance would have had a much easier time of it. As it is, she runs a successful dress shop in Peyton Place, a small New England town. Constance devotes herself to her job and has no real social life to speak of - until Mike Rossi comes to town. Allison's childhood best friend, Selena Cross, is a strong person who is put through hell and loses almost everything, yet she never gives up.
60 years on, "Peyton Place" is pretty tame now. I don't think it will shock anyone any longer. The book is not perfect - the prose can get rather clunky and the story melodramatic. However, "Peyton Place" is never dull. You can't help but root for downtrodden Selena and ambitious, but naive Allison. Allison's behavior really rang true for me, especially her teenage rebellion. Grace Metalious remembered what it was like to be a teenager.
