Grace Metalious - Publishing Phenomenon

Publishing Phenomenon

In the summer of 1956, the Metalious family moved into a new hilltop house, and a publicity campaign was launched for the book, published September 24, 1956. Reviled by the clergy and dismissed by most critics, it nevertheless remained on The New York Times bestseller list for more than a year and became an international phenomenon.

The town of Peyton Place was a combination of three New Hampshire towns: Gilmanton, the village where she lived (and which resented the notoriety); Laconia, the only nearby town of comparable size to Peyton Place and site of Metalious' favorite bar; and Alton, the town where a few years previously a daughter had murdered her incestuous abusive father. Hollywood lost no time in cashing in on the book's success—a year after its publication, Peyton Place was a major box office hit. A prime time television series that aired on ABC-TV from 1964 through 1969 was a ratings success as well.

Metalious was promoted by her publisher in a photo captioned "Pandora in Blue Jeans". Commenting on her critics, she observed, "If I'm a lousy writer, then an awful lot of people have lousy taste," and as to the frankness of her work, she stated, "Even Tom Sawyer had a girlfriend, and to talk about adults without talking about their sex drives is like talking about a window without glass."