"WELL THIS IS JUST A LITTLE PEYTON PLACE..."

Every author has the same dream : they sit at a typewriter and the words pour out of them. The story is cohesive without a struggle. They make a statement the world needs to hear. The world speaks back by making the book a smash success. That happened to Grace Metalious, author of Peyton Place. But literary success trapped Grace Metalious into living a life as tawdry as one of her characters. Grace Metalious died an alcoholic victim of her own fame.

Born into a life of poverty, Mary Grace de Repentingy was raised by her grandmother and mother after Grace's father deserted the family in 1934 when Grace was 10. Grace's mother held literary ambitions that never came to fruition. Grace married George Metalious, her high school sweetheart at 18. George went to college on the GI Bill to become a teacher. Grace stayed at home with their three kids and wrote, often neglecting housework and mothering. Grace had chosen a name at random from a directory of New York City literary agents - Jacques Chambrun. Previously she sent him a manuscript that received no attention. By the summer of 1955 at 30 years old, Grace Metalious would change popular literature with a pot boiler book.

Chambrun sent Grace's new manuscript, The Tree and The Blossom, to Lippincott publishing. Lippincott's reader loved the book, but editors passed. The reader mentioned the book to the head of Julian Messner books. She loved the book, but wanted to change the title. Peyton Place became the book's new moniker, to evoke the idea that the book was anchored in a town. Grace was returning home from swimming with her kids, arms full of groceries when she spotted a telegram from Chambrun.

Two days later she and Chambrun celebrated at New York City's Swanky 21 to toast Grace's book deal. A friend of Grace later noted - "Grace Metalious would never be really poor or really happy again." The publishers put the word out early about the corker of a story, creating what is now termed as buzz. The book hit the best seller list before its release date of September 24, 1956. Peyton Place sold 100,000 copies in its first month. Reviews were unkind, with one critic saying Peyton Place was literary sewage. Grace fired back if "I'm a lousy writer, then a hell of a lot of people have lousy taste."

The novel turned life in a sleepy New England hamlet into a soap opera. Characters made their lives on lies. Women had sex (and liked it!) The novel forced taboo topics of abortion, incest, alcohol addiction, and murder onto readers. Polite society would never discuss these topics publicly, but they sure would read about them privately. Peyton Place became a term for secrecy and judgment - the country music hit Harper Valley P.T.A. includes the line "Well this is just a little Peyton Place..." to expose Harper Valley's hypocrisy.

Grace was asked in nearly every interview she gave if Peyton Place was her autobiography. It wasn't, but Grace's life began to imitate her art. The money she earned allowed her to drink more than before. She and George both had affairs. Rumors and innuendo followed Grace wherever she went, like the gossip that she had shopped in the local supermarket naked underneath a mink coat. Publicity played up the housewives / mother / wife of a school teacher angle of Grace's life, but townsfolk didn't like being reminded their high school principal was married to a scandalous celebrity author. Grace and George separated after George lost his job. Their kids lost friends. Grace slipped further and further into a bottle.

(Side note - Grace once gave an interview to a young a young TV journalist named Mike Wallace. At the television station an up-and-coming young actress, the girl who announced station breaks, helped Grace with a fashion crisis. Ten years later that actress would follow in Grace's saucy, sassy literary footsteps with her own salacious scribblings, when Jacqueline Suzanne released Valley of the Dolls.  Grace Metalious stomped about in jeans and sneakers so Jacqueline Suzann could strut in couture and heels.)

As with any literary smash Hollywood bought the rights to Peyton Place and turned the novel into a film.  Fittingly the deal was signed at the Alogonquin, drinking grounds of Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley. Grace Metalious netted $250,000 for the film rights. The Metalious family traveled to Los Angeles to watch the filming. The studio shelled out for luxury accommodations, limos, and fine dining. Grace's daughter met Elvis on the set of one of his films. But that was nearly the end of Grace's commitment to Peyton Place. The film netted nine Oscar nominations but zero wins. Peyton Place then became television's first dramatic serial. Peyton Place aired three nights a week for five years.  The show netted the network $62 million, but Grace Metalious signed away the TV rights, never earning any money from the novel's television success.

Grace Metalious burned through nearly $1 million. She bought and renovated a home, bought a cadillac, fancy clothes, and took Island vacations. Grace met a D.J. named T. J. and began an affair. T. J. encouraged her outrageous spending. George burst in on the two and took photos as proof of an affair to be able to divorce grace. Grace filed for divorce, promising to fund George's Master's Degree in exchange for the illlicit pictures. Their kids went to live with George in Massachusetts. By 1960 Grace was left without a lover (T. J .split), her family, and her money.

She accepted a $165,000 advance for Return to Peyton Place, but turned in 98 pages of pages of gobbledygook that needed to be ghost written.  Return to Peyton Place and two other non-Peyton Place novels flopped. The sequel's film version did not see as much success as the original. Return to Peyton Place became a daytime soap opera, airing from 1972 to 1974. By that time Grace Metalious had been dead for nearly 10 years. She met a British journalist, John Rees, in 1963. Rees kept friends away from Grace. Grace changed her will so Rees would inherit her (now meager) estate. Upon embarking on a trip to Boston, Grace's liver gave out. Her children contested her will and discovered Rees was married and a father. He backed off his claim to Grace's estate. Her agent had stolen from Grace for the 10 years they worked together. Grace's drinking burned up the rest of the money.

The woman who literally wrote the book on small town scandal became the biggest scandal her small town had ever seen.

SOURCES :

Callahan, Michael. Peyton Place's Real Victim. Vanity Fair, 2006.

Grace Metalious. Wikipedia.

Peyton Place ~ Novel. Wikipedia.

Peyton Place ~ Film. Wikipedia.

Peyton Place ~ Television Series. Wikipedia.

FURTHER MEDIA : 

Peyton Place ~ Film Trailer