Again Peyton Place - the first Peyton Place novel by Roger Fuller

It was just a fictional town.  A small, New England town.  But author Grace Metalious opened up the eyes of the world to what life in a small town could really be like with her first Peyton Place novel back in 1956.  A story filled with murder, suicide, rape, incest, and small town piety that was a shocking tale for its time.  A movie of the same name hit the big screens the very next year, and it surprisingly stayed true to the book.  Two years after that, Metalious returned to that little fictional town to continue the story of Allison MacKenzie and the repercussions of her book about her hometown in Return to Peyton Place.  Somewhat shorter and not quite as shocking, that book was made into a film two years after its publication.  That same year, a completely different version of Peyton Place made its way into homes across America in a nighttime soap opera.  Definitely toned down for the small screen, the characters were the same, but the relationships, backgrounds, and stories had changed.  Then,six years after the second film and the TV show debuted, a new series of books hit the shelves, written by Roger Fuller.

Again Peyton Place is the first book of a series based on the two novels by Metalious.  One might think it would pick up after the ending of Return to Peyton Place; however, this series is not exactly a "sequel." Rather, these books tell the stories of other characters who live in Peyton Place and who, in some instances, interact with the characters from the original books.  This first book tells the story of Jamey ("Jay") Bramble, a rough and tumble young man from Shacktown (the poor part of Peyton Place on the wrong side of the tracks - the part of the city that the good, upstanding citizens of Peyton Place want to pretend does not exist, wherein live people that those caring, Christian citizens of Peyton Place want to keep away from their families) and Eileen Welsh, a somewhat innocent young girl whose family has just moved into the upper class neighborhood of Peyton Place.  Two characters who live two completely different and separate lives, but whose fates are intertwined and whose stories definitely lead to what the back cover of this book calls a "shattering climax" (which, quite frankly, is the appropriate choice of words, considering what goes on in this book!).

To a certain extent, Fuller's story is a take-off of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  A young boy and a young girl who fall in love, but whose families are determined to do anything to keep them apart.  And whose story has a tragic ending.  Jay has not had an easy life growing up in Shacktown.  His father is dead and his mother is a drunk.  His sister is basically a whore, and Jay has learned how to use his sister's "talents" to extort and/or steal money from the men she beds.  Neither he nor his sister have been to school in years, and they have succumbed to the fact that they will have to lie, cheat, and steal just to survive for the rest of their lives. And Jay, being especially large for his age (in literally every way), has found he can make money the same way his sister does. Until Michael Rossi (you remember him?  the new principal at Peyton Place's school, and the new husband for Constance MacKenzie) takes young Jay under his wing and brings him back to school to give him a chance to succeed.

Meanwhile, Eileen is not thrilled to be living in Peyton Place.  She was quite happy with her old home and old school and old friends.  But it doesn't take long fore the beautiful, red-headed Irish girl to make new friends and become the enter of attention at her new school.  So, when Jay Bramble suddenly shows up in her class, things begin to heat up.  Eileen's mother does not want Jay in that school, and she rallies a number of Peyton Place's more prominent citizens to join her crusade to get rid of Jay.  When that doesn't happen, she goes after Mike Rossi for bringing the boy into the school with her daughter.  When that fails, she enlists the help of her husband's boss - Leslie Harrington (you remember him?  the old man who runs the town mill and likes to think he runs the whole town - the same man who owns the property in Shacktown and manages to keep the people there living in filth and poverty).

But, despite the odds, Jay and Eileen end up together, and Eileen brings out a side of Jay that no one else can believe.  A Jay that smiles.  A Jay that tells jokes.  A Jay that is shy and reluctant to even kiss Eileen.  Jay is doing great at football in school.  He is studying hard to improve his grades so he can get into college.  He is working harder than ever at the print shop, so much so that his boss is amazed.  Everything seems to be going his way at last, and Rossi couldn't be prouder to have proved the judgmental townsfolk of Peyton Place wrong.  Until Jay's past comes back to haunt him.  One stupid mistake, and Jay finds himself nearly beaten to death, Eileen nearly raped, and a town vindicated in their animosity towards anyone who comes from Shacktown.  If anyone was expecting a happy ending to this tale, well, they are in for a huge disappointment.

What I liked about this book is that Fuller manages to integrate these new characters into the lives of the already existing characters seamlessly.  And, as indicated above, he does not pick up after the end of Metalious' second book; rather, this story starts before Selina Cross' trial from the original Peyton Place, and spans a number of years - through the trial, through Allison MacKenzie's publication of her first novel, and beyond.  His writing of Michael Rossi and Constance MacKenzie is pretty spot on, with their fun bantering - and he keeps Dr. Matt Swain consistent, as a man who cares not only for the welfare of his patients, but also for the underprivileged kids in the Shacktown community.  Fuller definitely knows how to build the drama and how to write characters that you grow to love or hate, and the fact that I was completely ticked off by what happens to poor Jay at the end of the story is a testament to Fuller's writing ability.

That being said, there are a few things about the book I did not like.  First, I did not like what happened to poor Jay at the end!  (Yes, I know I just said in the preceding paragraph that what happens is a testament to Fuller's writing, but that doesn't mean I was happy about the ending!)  I don't mean that it didn't make for a great story, or even that it was unrealistic - in fact, what happens is probably what would happen in real life.  But I was truly hoping to see a story of full redemption, to see a Shacktown boy rise above his circumstances and show those small-minded people of Peyton Place how wrong they are.  But that didn't happen.  Second, I did not like how graphic Fuller was when it came to the sex scenes (and let me tell you, there are a LOT more sex scenes in this one book than in both of Metalious' novels combined!).   While not fully explicit, Fuller does go beyond subtlety in his descriptions, and there is a lot of this book that focuses on sex - with Jay's brother, with Jay himself, with some of the other characters, and even with Eileen.  Considering this book was published in 1967, I'm rather surprised he was able to get away with as much as he did.  I think a lot of the scenes could have been implied rather than bluntly stated, but perhaps that was the shock value Fuller was intending for his readers.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the story, and I think Fuller did a fine job of keeping to Metaloius' original concept for Peyton Place and is characters.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of Fuller's books in this series.

RATING:  8 bottles of applejack liquor out of 10 for a saucy, sexy, scathing return to the small-town that has more scandals than anyone can imagine!