Return to Peyton Place - the Sensational Sequel to the Explosive Novel of a New England Town

Three years after the publication of Peyton Place, and two years after it was made into a feature film, author Grace Metalious returned to her fictional New England town and its startling cast of characters and sensational stories in a sequel that was aptly titled Return to Peyton Place.  Metalious picks up the story two years after the ending of the original, and readers were likely shocked to discover that there were still more secrets, more lies, and more controversial stories to be told about Allison MacKenzie, Selena Cross, Betty Anderson, Jennifer Carter, and the rest of the denizens of quiet, little Peyton Place...

Return to Peyton Place picks up with Allison still waiting to see if her first novel, Samuel's Castle, is going to be picked up by a publisher.  Ted Carter is having to break the news to Selena Cross that he has married another woman while at law school.  David Noyes is patiently waiting for his chance with Allison.  Roberta Carter is trying to figure out what is causing the changes in her son's personality.  And the whole town of Peyton Place is settling in for another winter, thinking that all of the horrific events of the past are just that - in the past.  Little do they realize that come Spring, all of that and more are about to resurface in the public eye in the most sensationalized way imaginable, painting the town - and all of its citizens, in the public spotlight and definitely NOT in a good way.  For, you see, Allison's novel finds its publishers - and its publisher will do everything and anything to make sure it is a bestseller, including hiring a marketing man who can turn anything to gold with his magic touch ... including the brilliant idea of sending some preview copies of the books to the citizens of Peyton Place to get their thoughts on the novel written by one of their own...

Metalious does not hold back with this sequel, that's for sure.  While the first book had to be scandalous for its time, dealing with incest, abortions, blackmail, adultery, rape, murder, and just about every other soap opera story that is taken for granted in today's storytelling, this book delves more into the sexual nature of the characters, giving readers more detailed (but not pornographic, thankfully) descriptions of the torrid love affairs of Allison MacKenzie and Selena Cross.  While Allison seems to have found the one lover that satisfies her in every way, poor Selena cannot seem to let go of what happened in the first book, and she can't let herself fall for the one man who would truly be good for her.  And poor Ted Carter.  Not only does he fail to realize his new wife is using him, he is painfully unaware that his mother is listening from the next room, shocked by the lascivious nature of her daughter-in-law and the sinful things she forces her husband to go - and, of course, there's the fact that Jennifer Carter knows that Roberta Carter is in the next room, and so she is purposefully putting on a show just to drive her mother-in-law crazy!

This, of course, is on top of the murder plot as one of the characters maps out a plan to get rid of her perceived nemesis, only to have the tables turned and wind up a victim of her own machinations!  And the blackmailing of a grandfather who only wants to see his dead son's only child - Betty Anderson knows exactly what her son is worth to her father-in-law, and she intends to milk him for every dime she can get!  And poor Michael Rossi - when Samuel's Castle is published, he faces the wrath of the town all because he married Allison's mother, and he loses his job at the school and finds that no one in town, or even in the surrounding towns, will hire him now.  And speaking of Samuel's Castle, what happens when Hollywood buys the rights to turn the book into a film, and Allison is asked to come out as a consultant?  Well, she quickly learns that all of the success she now has may not be worth the price tag that comes with it.

And above all else - what will happen when Constance MacKenzie Rossi learns that her daughter is following in her footsteps and has dived right into a relationship with a married man?

I'm a little disappointed that we don't get more of Norman Page in this sequel.  I really liked his character in the first book, and while we do get a small taste of him in the first part, the remaining three parts of the book are completely devoid of Norman and his mother.  

There are a couple of items that caught my eye while reading.  One is the name of a character who was an ex-husband of an actress Allison meets while in Hollywood.  She says his name is "John Gresham" (p. 192), and it immediately made me think of John Grisham, who has authored so many legal-related thrillers in the last decade or two.  Obviously, this book was written well before he became an author, but the similarity did make me smile.  The other thing was a speech given by Doc Matthew Swain at a school board meeting where the board has voted to fire Michael Rossi.  The words he had to say are truly prophetic:

We've joined the rest of the country with a vengeance.  We're setting back the clocks and imitating the witch hunters who are a shame on the pages of our history.  We who prided ourselves above all else on our individualism are now demanding that everyone conform.  Be like us, think like us - or into exile you go.  (p. 115).

It is uncanny just how much our country is doing exactly this today.  It seems we need Doc Swain to take the microphone and speak out to the citizens of our country today!

I watched the Peyton Place film after reading the first book, and now that I've finished the sequel, I'm going to sit down and watch the film version of Return to Peyton Place, which hit the big screens in 1961, two years after the book was published.  I'm aware that this movie has an entirely different cast, so I'll be curious to see how that works and whether the film mirrors the book as much as the first film did for the original novel.

Sadly, Metalious wrote no more stories about the characters in this little New England town, so I suppose the only chance I'll have to see more of Allison, Constance, Mike, Selena, and the rest of the gang will be to hunt down the box sets of the television version of Peyton Place and see what stories they hold...

RATING:  7 glasses of champagne out of 10 for reminding readers that even the smallest of towns can hide some pretty dark and horrific secrets!