Pleasures of Peyton Place - the third Peyton Place novel by Roger Fuller

It was definitely time to take a return trip to Grace Metalious' fictional town of Peyton Place.  After two books written by the creator of the series, and then two books written by Roger Fuller, who continued the stories of the citizens of Peyton Place, it feels like the small New England town has been fleshed out, and the expanding cast in this sequel series creates a true soap opera realm for Fuller to play in.  First, we had Jay and Eileen's tragic story (Again Peyton Place), and then we read about the difficulty the Welles' family faced because of their sinful past (Carnival in Peyton Place).  Now, readers are introduced to yet another family who has moved to Peyton Place - a family with some twisted morals who are about to come face-to-face with the consequences of their actions ... or in one person's case, inaction.

Pleasures of Peyton Place brings famed artist Joe Fiske and his family to the small community.  Fuller takes his time to thoroughly introduce the readers to each member of the Fiske family and give readers some insight as to why each character is the way he or she is.  Gus and Berte are the twins, the youngest children.  The two are opposites, with Berte describing herself as the "Gorilla Girl" (p. 40) because she was tall and had inherited her father's bone structure.  Gus, on the other hands, was "short and slight, with such delicate features, small hands and feet and long lashes..." (p. 41).  Yet, Fuller makes sure to let readers know that Berte is still feminine and attracts boys, while Gus never had anything "swishy" about him (p. 41).  I suppose Fuller did not want any of his readers to think Berte or Gus was anything but heterosexual.  Tom is the first born, a wild child who seems to only act out of rebellion, having been tossed out of one school after another because of the trouble he causes.  Then there's Scotty Fiske, Joe's beautiful wife.  She is the perfect artist's wife, who will do anything to make sure her husband's genius is catered to, even if that is at the cost of her children and her own marriage!  Of course, there's Joe Fiske himself - a self-made man, who rose up from nothing to make a name for himself with art that never fails to sell at unbelievably high prices.  He can do no wrong, so he has no guilt when it comes to sleeping around with women that he meets, believing it is just something that geniuses do.  After all, he justifies, they are just dalliances that never last, and his true love is only for his wife. Until he comes to Peyton Place...

Now, Fuller does not focus solely on the newcomers.  He also introduces readers to Harvey Peddrick, the bank manager at Citizens National Bank.  Harvey is a hardworking man who is dedicated to his job and his wife, Edith.  Edith is his second wife, who he met while on a business trip in Tampa, Florida a few years before.  His first wife had died, and so he and his son, Robert, had been on their own - until that fateful day when Edith joined Harvey on a bench looking out over the beach in Florida.  Although somewhat younger than Harvey, Edith is satisfied with her marriage.  She is not in love with him, but she loves him and loves how he cares for her and gives her a steady, secure life.  There is nothing exciting about their hum-drum existence.  Until the day her car slides into a ditch in front of the Fiske's new home ... and Joe Fiske happens to be on hand, ready to assist ...

It doesn't take a genius to figure out where this story is headed.  Joe, who normally does not paint women, suddenly finds himself inspired by Edith.  Edith is not really interested in posing, but her husband is thrilled at the idea of a famous painter using his wife as a muse.  Thus, the two are thrown together, and as one can expect, they begin a torrid love affair.  The only problem is, they actually fall in love, leaving them in a quandry as to her husband and his wife and family.  Well, circumstances conspire to bring their affair to the light of the citizens of Peyton Place (after all, it is a small town, and everyone talks!), and before you know it, all parties involved must face the truth and figure out what to do about it.  Along the way, Fuller provides side stories involving Berte's attempts to fit in at the high school and Gus's battle for a spot of the school baseball team. We also read about Tom's efforts to bed the local ladies and find a spot that will satisfy his rebellious desires - booze, sex, and drugs.  And find a place, he does, just outside the county line...

This book is definitely more focused on the standard romantic entangles of the characters than the previous two books by Fuller, but there is still some tragedy that strikes.  One of the characters does not make it out alive, and love definitely does not conquer all in this story.  Fuller provides readers with a bit of a moral reckoning for both Joe and Edith by the end of the book, as a gentle reminder to readers that "love" is not always what it seems, and one should be careful about looking outside of marriage for it.  Lust is easily mistaken for love in the heat of the moment, and in this story, Joe and Edith find out the hard way exactly what that costs.

This book was published back in 1968, and back then, many of the mass-market paperback novels came with ad inserts, often for cigarettes, but also for other books or magazines.  In this instance, however, there was an ad insert promoting the "Famous Writers School" out of Westport, Connecticut.  "Do you have writing talent?" the insert asks.  "Find out by taking this Aptitude Test created by 12 famous authors," the ad boastfully promotes.  Supposedly the test was crafted by authors such as Faith Baldwin, Rod Serling, Max Shulman, and others. Readers could fill out the card, detach it, and mail it in for a free aptitude test that they could take without any obligation.  Heck, even the card had pre-paid postage on it.  So what did these readers have to lose?  There is even a small blurb that tells you "Why writing can be a godsend for woman."  Because, apparently, a writing career can provide women with "money, recognition, and freedom to work when and where you choose."  I find it interesting that they focus their blurb on women, presumably because the publisher assumed only women would be reading novels about Peyton Place.  I wonder how many men saw this and were turned off by the fact that ad was geared towards women and not just readers in general.  

In any event, this third Peyton Place novel in the sequel series provides a standard soap opera tale, and Fuller shied away from the explicitness of his previous novels.  Sure, there are some steamy scenes, but they are toned down considerably, and readers only get the opening kisses and the after glow to read about. Even the tragic death of one of the characters occurs completely "off-screen," and the readers, along with the Fiskes and Peddricks find out about it after-the-fact.  And before you get too concerned, some of the regulars of Peyton Place do make appearances in the book - Michael Rossi and his wife, Connie; Dr. Swain; and the good ol' Sheriff, who is always looking to stamp down on those no-good teenagers that are bound to cause trouble at some point.  Oh, and I musn't forget the Coolie Smith, who is Joe Fiske's right-hand man, who takes care of everything for him - his schedule, his family, his house.  In fact, Coolie is the glue that holds the Fiske family together and takes care of all of the problems that arise. 

RATING:  7 damaged blocks and drive shafts out of 10 for showing how the pleasures of this life can ultimately lead to nothing but pain and heartache!