The Evils of Peyton Place - the fifth Peyton Place novel by Roger Fuller

As I've been watching more and more episodes from the Peyton Place television show (the first couple of years, in the mid-60s), it reminded me that I still had more Peyton Place novels by Roger Fuller to read.  The books definitely follow the story as originally penned by Grace Metalious, and are not at all related to the television show, which deviated so far from the books - changing so many elements of Metalious' original, scandalous tale.  Fuller, on the other hand, not only builds on the original scandals in Metalious two-book story, but he goes well beyond what was considered morally and ethically acceptable back in those days!  This particular book, published in January 1969, contains probably some of the most "shocking" content of any of the prior four books in this series!

 

The Evils of Peyton Place introduces readers to yet more newcomers to the small New England community.   Willie Higginbotham is a filthy rich man who has never really had to work a day in his life.  He married Anne Higginbotham, known as "Higgie," who is anything but a usual housewife.  In fact, when it comes to being filthy rich, Higgie enjoys the filthy part more than the rich part.  Rarely sober, dependent on drugs prescribed by her questionable doctor, and in total reliance on her husband's support - physical, emotional, and psychological - Higgie is always looking for something new to satiate her depraved desires.  Never in a million years did Willie think all those kinks would find kindred spirits in a small community like Peyton Place ... but little did he know!

 

Fuller doesn't hold back any punches with this story, as he delves into the sexual escapades of Higgie and her way-too-permissive husband, Willie.  Thankfully, he does not involve any of the mainstay characters in Peyton Place (such as Mike Rossi, Michael Swain, Constance MacKenzie-Rossi, or even the gruff Sheriff Buck McCracken), and while Leslie Harrington is mentioned (as is his deceased son, Rodney), he is never actually seen in the story.  Rather, Fuller introduces other members of the small town who participate in Higgie's "Charades and Anagram Circle" (which is the cover-name for the orgies held at the Higginbotham home).  In fact, the book actually goes into a bit of detail about each of the town's families that secretly participate in these clandestine gatherings, expanding the known residents in Peyton Place.

 

What I think pushes the boundaries a bit too far with the story is when Fuller not only has Higgie engaging in sexual acts with their housekeeper's daughter (who is barely old enough to be out of high school!), but she also makes overtures towards the daughter of her husband's business partner - a girl that IS still in high school!  Thankfully, nothing every actually happens - it is merely threats made by Higgie; but Willie does finally put an end to the shenanigans and the marriage when he catches her in bed with his business partner's wife - a decision that has devastating consequences for not only Higgie, but for Willie as well.  This book has an extremely sad ending, moreso than any book that has come before in this series.  Of course, that does ground it somewhat in reality, as actions do have consequences, and the moral of this story definitely plays out - engaging in reckless, careless behavior, living a life of lies and secrets, will eventually catch up to you!

 

One thing I did like about this book - when characters or situations from previous books are mentioned, there is a footnote on that particular page that provides the reader with the title of the book wherein that particular character appeared or story took place (p. 21 references The Pleasure of Peyton Place and p. 125 references Again Peyton Place).  That's a nice way to refresh the memories of those who have read all the books, and a great reference for those who pick up and read this book before any of the others.

 

Of all the books, I would say this is probably the one I liked the least.  It is a bit difficult to get through because of the subject matter and because of the constant switch in point of view to the various characters introduced.  I still have several more books in the series to read, so we will see how they play out...

 

RATING:  6 scantily-clad fire-dancers out of 10 for pulling back the curtains on the sordid lives of the rich and bored behind closed doors in a small-town USA. 

Short Lived Comic Series #37 - The Nurses (Gold Key Comics)

Gold Key Comics seemed to have a knack, back in the day, for publishing comic books based on various television shows out at the time.  Adam-12, Lost in Space, Bonanza, Happy Days, Family Affair, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek, and many others (including my all-time favorite, Dark Shadows!).  Many of them only lasted a few issues, while some of them did manage to keep going for years.  One short-lived series that I was unaware of until recently only had three issues, and it was based upon a prime-time television medical drama that ran from September 1962 to May 1965.  It took me a bit of hunting to find all three issues of the series at reasonable prices and in fairly good condition, but I managed to finish the set recently and have been able to read it.

 

The Nurses is based upon the CBS television show of the same name, the story of which centers around a young nurse named Gail Lucas (portrayed by Zina Bethune) and her older nurse mentor, Liz Thorpe (portrayed by Shirl Conway).  This appears to be the only show that either actress starred on a regular basis, although they both made appearances in other episodic television shows.  The Nurses takes place in New York City at Alden General Hospital, which is said to have been patterned after Roosevelt Hospital in the Midtown West area of NYC.  The show ran for three seasons and boasted a total of 98 episodes, and it even had a crossover in its third season with a companion legal series called For the People (starring none other than William Shatner, of Star Trek fame).  Interestingly, after the nighttime drama ended, ABC picked it up and continued it as a daytime soap opera, using the same name and characters (although the actors changed) and which ran from September 1965 to March 1967.  This three-issue comic series is based on the original prime-time show.

 

The comics did not give credit to any of the creators (as Gold Key was wont to do), but from what I was able to discover online, Paul S. Newman wrote the stories in all three issues.  Newman (not to be confused with the actor) was quite the prolific comic writer, with his earliest work being in the late 1940s for Dell, DC, and Fawcett, later adding work at Marvel, Western Publishing/Gold Key, and a number of other publishers, continuing to write well into the 1970s.  The stories in the first issue appear to have been penciled and inked by Jack Sparling, who also has quite the resume of work for DC, Dell, Marvel, and Western Publishing/Gold Key.  The art for the second and third issues remain uncredited.  Each of the three issues contains two stories about the nurses, with Gail Lucas being the primary character, and her mentor, Liz Thorpe, being the only continuing supporting character.  The rest of the cast changes with every story.  Each issue also features a short, 4-page story starring the "Emergency Crew," which is comprised of two men - Jim Friendly and Carl Blaker - who get called into help rescue people before the paramedics and/or fire department can arrive.  These short strips were also written by Newman, with art in the first issue by Sparling.

 

In the first issue, Gail and Liz are confronted with an old country doctor, Dr. Dart, whose patient is brought to the hospital to be treated in "Call of Duty."  Dr. Dart is old fashioned in his ways and wants no one - no resident, nor nurses, no one! - touching his patient except him.  When Liz offers to take the crotchety doctor home on a rainy night, they get into an accident, and Dr. Dart is forced to accept Liz' help with the other driver, who has been seriously injured.  By the end of the story, the doctor realizes his views are antiquated and changes the way he thinks about the nursing staff.  The second story brings the nurses "The Problem Patient," an overly controlling and paranoid chairman of a multi-million dollar company who is afraid everyone is trying to take his job.  He does not believe his wife, his business partner, or even his own secretary - but it takes Gail's innocence and ingenuity to prove to the man his fear and paranoia are only hurting him.  The four-page Emergency Crew tale has Jim and Carl saving a young boy who has fallen down a well.

 

The second issue starts of with a doctor following in "His Father's Shadow."  Young Dr. Hartly seems to be a prodigy when it comes to surgery, showing expert skill after only a month of internship.  But Liz and Gail quickly learn his superb skill only appears when he is working with his father, Dr. Tyler.  When Tyler is not around, Harty is afraid of doing even the most minor of procedures.  It is only when faced with his father on the operating table that Hartly is able to overcome his fears.  The second story, "Give Me My Baby," finds the nurses dealing with a woman who is deathly afraid to have her sick baby taken to the hospital.  Her first child died in the hospital, and she is scared if her second child is taken to Alden General, he will die as well.  Gail must convince the woman that the hospital is the only chance her son has to survive.  The four-page Emergency Crew story takes Jim and Carl to the docks, where they must help keep a man who has had a heart attack from a nearby oil fire that, if it hits the oxygen tank keeping the man alive, could kill them all.

 

In the third issue, Gail becomes a "Heroine in White," when she assists a doctor that witnessed a mugging and brings the injured man into the hospital to save his life.  But the muggers are out for revenge, and when Gail helps the newspaper snap a picture of the doctor, the criminals run his car off the road and into a ravine - a car in which both the doctor and Gail are riding!e e (As you might guess, this is the story from which the cover scene was taken.)  Gail must use all of her training to keep the doctor alive until help arrives, and it is her identifying the men that puts them behind bars.  The final story teaches an injured model that "All Scars Don't Show."  Following an accident that left her leg injured and scars to her face, a model refuses to walk, even though her leg is fully healed.  Liz takes center stage and with the help of a photographer, convinces the model that photos can be retouched to hide her scars, and her modeling career can continue - giving her the courage to get up and walk and get back to her life.  The four-page Emergency Crew story finds Jim and Carl racing against time to save the pilot of a crashed airplane from live electrical wires that could kill him at any moment.

 

The first two issues feature photo scenes from the television show on the front covers, with mini-posters of the two main actresses from the show on the back cover.  What is odd about the back cover posters is that the first issue has a photo of Zina Bethune with her character name, "Gail Lucas" over the picture.  The second issue, however, features a photo of Shirl Conway, but instead of her character name over the picture, it has her real name.  There is no explanation why they use the character name on one and the actress name on the other.  The third, and final, issue has a painted cover art, with small photos of the two actresses in the upper right corner on the front cover, and the same painted art on the back cover, but without any title words or photos interrupting the art.  There is no credit given to the cover art, and I was unable to find any information on the artist online.

 

Each issue also features a one-page text story that provides information about various medical people and moments from history.  In the first issue, "Angel of Mercy" provides some information about Clara Barton; in the second issue, "Lady with the Lamp" recounts the story of Florence Nightingale; and in the third issue, "Early Hospitals" gives an account of how hospitals, as we now know them, came into being.

 

While the main stories are 12 and 13 pages in length, and are obviously very fast paced, they are actually very enjoyable and provide some well-written characterization, even though the individuals who appear in each story only appear once.  The art, while some might think is very simple and plain compared to today's comic art, works perfectly for the stories, allowing the reader to focus more on what is actually happening then getting "awed" by the "pretty art."  All three issues were published in 1963 (cover dated April / July / October, respectively), and it's rather a shame it did not continue, especially since the television show lasted another two years (before switching to a daily afternoon soap).  Based on these comics, I'm going to have to try and track down any episodes of the television show and see how they compare!

RATING:  9 unsigned powers of attorney out of 10 for some great drama, not always of the medical kind, and some entertaining stories that make for great reading!

Mary Worth: 1943 Career Girl Drama - a Blackthorne Publishing Collection

Anyone that has ever read the "funny pages" from a newspaper is more than likely familiar with the name Mary Worth. The name is pretty much synonymous with the soap-opera-style comic strips, such as Rex Morgan, M.D. and Apartment 3-G, among others.  The strip began in 1938, although sources indicate the strip started even earlier than that in a previous incarnation as "Apple Mary," which had its beginnings in 1934.  "Apple Mary" was a strip created by Martha Orr, with art and lettering by Dale Conner and Ruth Belew, respectively.  When Orr left the strip in 1941, and this is when Allen Saunders took over the writing, and Ken Ernst came in to take over the art.  By 1940, the strip was already using "Mary Worth's Family" as a subtitle, and when Saunders and Ernst took over, it eventually transitioned to simply Mary Worth.  There is, of course, disputes regarding whether "Apple Mary" really was a precursor to Mary Worth, but respected sources, including Saunders himself, indicated it was.

 

In 1986, Blackthorne Publishing was doing a number of collection of comic strips under the "Comic-Strip Preserves" banner, including Betty Boop, Brenda Starr Reporter, and others.  One of those was Mary Worth, with, unfortunately, only had this one book.  Labeled a "1943 career girl drama," the book features a storyline that ran from October 1943 through April 1944.  A number of things surprised me about the strips as I sat down to read them.  First, the name of the strip alternates between "Mary Worth's Family" and simply "Mary Worth."  Second, and probably most surprising, is the fact that the title character actually features very little in this story!  She plays heavily in the first few strips, as she heads to Elm City where Bill Biff is to have found them a place to live, and she shows up in the last few panels to bid some of the major characters farewell, as two of them head out on military duty.  Otherwise, she is only seen in a few strips, and usually those scenes are simply as a plot device to move the characters in a certain direction!  This is a far cry from the strip I remember glancing out now and again as I was growing up, where the elderly woman was always sticking her nose into everyone's business and offering advice, whether it was solicited or not!

 

This sixth month tale is, in reality, the story of Gypsy Monez, a professional dancer from New York City.  She happens to be on the same train as Mary Worth, and she sneaks into Mary's cabin, asking her to hide her from the men that are looking for her.  Mary (and the reader) knows there is more to the story, so it goes without saying that Mary helps her sneak off the train at Elm City.  Mary opens up her new home to the young actress (over the objections of Bill Biff, who is upset to be put out of his own room!).  Soon enough, Gypsy is directing the charity benefit to support the war effort - there is only one catch - she must use the chairwoman's son in the leading role!  Gypsy is unsure until she meets the boy, who turns out to be a handsome young man.  The two quickly hit it off, but as with any good story there's a snag.  An unscrupulous man discovers by accident the secret Gypsy is keeping from everyone and threatens to expose her if she does not date him instead.  As her feelings for Bud (the chairwoman's son) grow stronger, she eventually walks away from the man blackmailing her - a decision she is sure to regret.

 

The story takes a romantic tangle of a turn when Bud's older brother comes home on leave from his service in the armed forces.  He happens to be on the same train Gypsy is on after spending time in New York City (no, I'm not going to spoil her reasons for being there - let's just say, it has to do with the resolution of the first half of the story), and, of course, the two hit it off, neither suspecting who the other really is.  Once home in Elm City, though, Rick is the one to realize his new love is actually his brother's fiance-to-be.  He tries to bow out, but his feelings for Gypsy and hers for him are too much.  Luckily, another young lady happens to come to town, and she catches Bud's eyes - and with a little help from Mary Worth, the entangled lives become untangled, and we end up with two very happy couples. Well, happy that is, until the final panel, when both Rick and Bud head off into the service for their country!

 

Again, it is odd (to me, at least) that the title character appears so little in the strip.  While I didn't necessarily expect to see her in every panel, I did expect her to have a much larger role than simply an advice giver every couples of weeks or so, and matchmaker for a few strips.  We can't even go so far as to say "Mary Worth's Family" is an appropriate title, since the characters involved in this story are not a part of her family at all.  I am now curious to learn when did Mary Worth take a much more active and consistent role in her own strip? 

 

The art, by Ken Ernst, is enticing, and he gives each of his characters very distinctive looks that make them easy to identify without being named repeatedly.  His rendition of Gyspy is pretty spot on, since she is meant to be a seductive beauty - he even manages to give her clothing that only accentuates her sexy side - when she tries to wear "normal" clothes that would be appropriate in Elm City, it comes across very unnatural.  Unlike Mary Perkins, On Stage (another strip that I have been reading in collected editions),  this strip does not always concern itself with detailed backgrounds; in fact, a number of panels have no backgrounds at all - the characters simply appear against empty space.  This does not detract from the storytelling, though.  In some cases, it actually gives more focus to the character(s) speaking, so the reader is not distracted looking at what is in the background.

 

I will admit - I took a look online to see what the strip looks like today - and it is a FAR CRY from these strips from the 1940s!  While I loved June Brigman's work on Marvel's Power Pack back in the '80s, her work on the current Mary Worth strips does not hold a candle to Saunders' work represented in this collection.  It is a shame no one has collected more of these early years of Mary Worth.   I'm aware there is a mass-market paperback collection out there, as well as a comic collection published by a company called Argo; and there are several issues of a Harvey-published comics; but that is so little compared to eighty years of daily newspaper strips!  Someone needs to get work preserving these strips for future readers!

 

As a side note - I'm not really sure where the "career girl drama" banner on the cover comes from.  Mary Worth is definitely not a career girl, so the only thing I can figure is that it is referring to Gypsy Monez, who settles down in Elm City and opens a fashionable clothing store for the women about town. 

 

RATING:  9 autographed photos of Gyspy Monez out of 10 for an interesting trip back in time to the simpler times of comic strip tales filed with romance, drama, and lessons learned!

Secrets of Peyton Place - the fourth Peyton Place novel by Roger Fuller

I can't believe it has been more than a year since I read the last Peyton Place novel by author Roger Fuller!  It does not seem that long, but apparently time has just flown by.  So, it was with great relish that I pulled out the fourth book in this series, curious to see what scandals would rock the small New England town this time, and which of Grace Metalious' original characters would make appearances in the story.  Each book has dwelt on a different family in this anything-but-average community, and this book is no different - another new family moves to Peyton Place, and another female character is caught up in the sinful desires that seem to take hold of everyone in town at one point or another! 

 

Secrets of Peyton Place introduces readers to Phil and Nancy Merriman, a young couple from Sampson, South Carolina, who move to Peyton Place to pursue Phil's budding engineering career at Sono-trol, an up and rising company who has grown swiftly, taking on government contracts, as well as numerous private contracts.  Nancy is supportive of her husband's career, but this sudden move has left her feeling out of place.  The Merrimans move into a subdivision in which all of the Sono-trol families reside, and Nancy finds that she must do whatever it takes to fit in with the other housewives, as their actions have a direct reflection on their husbands' careers.  One wrong step could end a career. And the last thing she wants to do is hurt her husband's career - despite how badly she wants to return hom to Sampson!

 

Fuller once again delves into the depravity of these outwardly small-town people.  The "good" people of Peyton Place give the outward appearance of piety and purity, yet their devious and sexually deviant natures make the poor people of Shacktown look downright innocent!  Yes, Shacktown comes back into the forefront for this story - in fact, there are tons of moving parts that all eventually intersect to nearly turn the entire township upside down and nearly bring an end to Leslie Harrington's long-time reign as the one who pulls the strings of everything that happens in Peyton Place!  It seems Harrington finally has some competition in the form of Allen McCampbell, or "The Man" as he is known by all of the employees of Sono-trol.  It seems the outwardly handsome, smooth-talking Mr. Campbell is hiding plenty of secrets - from his political aspirations to his insatiable desire for women (particularly married ones!) - and he is a sly chess-player that knows exactly how to maneuver all those around him to get exactly what he wants.

 

And when a young college girl of Indian descent is nearly brutally raped in Shacktown, it becomes the catalyst for plenty of changes in a lot of lives in Peyton Place. Reverend Tibbs suddenly steps out of his role as the timid pansy and nearly beats the rapist to an inch of his life ... Nancy Merriman realizes she finally has a purpose in Peyton Place, and that is to help the people of Shacktown, what with the attempted rape and the swiftly spreading typhoid fever ... Doc Swain sees this as an opportunity to open the eyes of his fellow citizens of Peyton Place as to the poor conditions of those living in Shacktown ... and Allen McCampbell sees this as the perfect opportunity to remove the sheriff, take power away from Harrington, and take complete control of Peyton Place!  And all along the way, Nancy sees McCampbell as the savior this town needs, doubting all the stories of his liaisons with married women - until one fateful night he makes the mistake of making a move on Nancy.  Her husband has been away on work projects for so long (at the behest of McCampbell, of course!), and he is handsome and powerful and able to bring some hope to those people in Shacktown, but what good Christian woman would ever give in to that kind of temptation?

 

As the blurb on the back cover of the book says, "An innocent bride learns the ways of the world in a small New England town..."

 

Fuller brings in Doc Matt Swain and Sheriff Buck McCracken ... we get some brief moments with an aging Leslie Harrington ... we do get the brief mention of the farmhouse where the Fiske family tragedy took place in the last book ... so Fuller keeps the continuity strong and the story moving in a forward direction.  These books are not stand alone, even though the stories are somewhat self-contained.  The books continue the soap opera format of Metalious' original novels, and expands the cast and definitely darkens the stories.  While the last book shied away from explicit sexuality, despite its plot, this book brings back some pretty sexually explicit scenes, particularly for the decade in which the book was published.  I am actually surprised this was not censored, as I cannot imagine your standard publishers in 1968 were so open about explicit scenes like those in this book. Yet, Fuller managed to get away with it, and Fuller manages to include some very steamy scenes with Nancy and her husband, as well as with Allen and one of his mistresses.

One surprise I did find while reading this book was Fuller's reference to the Bible - which, I suppose, should not have surprised me so much, since Nancy Merriman from the get-go is described as a Christian woman.  When Nancy is first offered an opportunity to go help the less fortunate in Shacktown, she is hesitant - but then she recalls the admonition of the Lord:  "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ... ye have done it unto me" (p. 104).   This comes from the verse Matthew 25:40 from the New Testament.  For all of the sin and debauchery going on in this town, it was actually refreshing to find a character who actually wanted to serve others as she believes the Lord would have her do - and when ultimately tempted, she overcomes and actually makes the right choice!  Hurray for Fuller for not making everyone bad!

 

Interestingly, this book does not give a solid ending.  While we do have resolution for Nancy and her husband, Allen McCampbell's future is not necessarily a given, and Harrington's vow to regain his power in Peyton Place leaves me to wonder if these characters are not going to resurface in later books (as this was far from Fuller's last book in the world of this New England town).  After reading this book, the television series from the late '60s is extremely tame in comparison!

 

RATING:   7 games of high-stakes bridge out of 10 for keeping the drama in Peyton Place as high as it has ever been, but proving that some people are strong enough not to be pulled into the wicked ways of this town!

The World of General Hospital - Six Decades of Drama in Port Charles

Back in the late '70s and early '80s, I watched the daytime drama, General Hospital, with my mom each afternoon.  I remember the whole Cassadine island / Ice Princess story, the romance and wedding of Luke and Laura (and yes, I watched that episode when it aired!), the death and later resurrection of Laura Spencer, and so many other great stories of that era.  But I fell away from the show, and it was not until decades later, when ABC cancelled its other soaps (All My Children and One Life to Live), that I picked up on the show, as I loved the idea of Todd Manning, Starr Manning, and John McBain coming over from One Life to Live to continue their stories on General Hospital.  Thirteen years later, and I'm still watching the show, even though those three characters (and the actors who played them) have been long gone.  I've been very fortunate in recent years to meet in person a number of the actors who have been on the show, and so when I saw this book listed on Amazon, I picked it up, thinking it would offer up a great history about a television drama that has aired daily for more than 60 years!  Sadly, I could not have been more wrong...

The World of General Hospital offers very little when it comes to any specific history of the show.   Written by Jesse Shanks, whose biography on Amazon indicates he has "shown talents for writing, genealogy, programming, and research," this book reads like a fluff piece that provides general information about a show that has been on television for more than six decades.  While I was hoping for some decade by decade look at the various stories and characters, as well as, perhaps, some cast listings and character profiles, and maybe even some synopses of various major stories over the years, I instead got a book that repeats itself often about the importance of Steve Hardy and Jesse Brewer, the revitalization of the show with Luke and Laura, and the current emphasis on Sonny Corinthos.  We get some brief mentions of the different families that have appeared on the show (the Hardys, the Quartermaines, the Conrinthos, and the Spencers) and some quick references to some of the locations on the show; but there is very little in-depth look at either the characters or the locations.

 

This show has been on the air continuously for more than 60 years!  While I do realize a full, in-depth look at the show for that length of time could very well take up 600 pages or more, I do think Shanks could have spent some more time on some of the major highlights.  As he indicates in the book (more than one, I might add), the wedding of Luke and Laura was a major network event that garnered more viewers than the royal wedding around that same time!  One would think he would spend some time looking at the relationship of these characters, and how they evolved over the years - from Luke's vicious rape of Laura, to their unconventional love on the run story, to their magnificent wedding, to Luke's loss when Laura disappeared in the fog, to her shocking return (and with it the beginning of the life-long conflict with the Cassadine clan), to their children, their divorce and various other loves (Luke with Tracy and Laura with Kevin).  I mean, for years, "Luke and Laura" truly defined the show!  So, why was their story given only a few pages scattered throughout the book?

 

I have to wonder if the author even watched the show prior to the 2000s (or, possibly, the '90s).  Many of the more lengthy descriptions of stories (such as the text-message killer) are from the more modern era; however, there were plenty of great stories back in the day:  the murder of Diana Taylor; the Prometheus disc / Grant Putnam story (talk about a revelation when viewers found out he was really a Russian spy!); the murder of Phil Brewer; Heather Webber accidentally injecting herself with LSD; even the outrageously crazy Ice Princess story and the Cassadine weather-control device.  These, and so many more, deserved some attention and some details; instead, most do not even get mentioned, and when they do, it is only in one or two sentences before moving on to something else.

 

I do give Shanks credit for giving at least a brief look at the various changes the show has undergone over the years - from one-half hour to one hour in 1976 (I did not realize it had become an hour show only a couple of years before I started watching it!); from medical drama to adventure stories with the hiring of Gloria Monty in 1978; the inclusion of more social issues when head writer Claire Labine came on board in 1993; and even how the show has been filmed (from black and white to color, then to HD, and how those changes affected the way the sets were designed).  Shanks also takes a few pages to look at how the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Writer's Strike affected the show, and how these events affected the way the show was filmed and the stories written.  So, despite the overall "general" information provided for most things, the author does give readers a bit of technical history that can be appreciated.

 

But, other than that, there is absolutely no behind-the-scenes look at the show.  There is no discussion of the actors' interactions with one another and with writers and/or directors; no talk of how the actors dealt with certain stories or were affected by cast changes around them; no look at how long-term actors have grown with the show (such as Leslie Charleston, Genie Francis, Jane Elliott, Mauirce Bernard, Rebecca Herbst, Finola Hughes, or others who have been on the show for 20 years or more!);  no real list of famous actors who got their start on GH, such as John Stamos, Amber Tamblyn, Demi Moore, Mark Hamill, and others); and no mention of the various actors who made a real impact on the show and who have passed on in real life (such as Anna Lee, John Ingle, Peter Hansen, John Reilly, Tyler Christopher, Billy Miller, Susan Brown, Shell Kepler, and the list goes on).  

 

On top of all of this, there are glaring errors in the content of the book.  The book indicates Aurora Media was founded by Drew Cain and Jason Morgan (p. 116) - which is wholly incorrect, as the company was established by Drew Cain and Sam McCall after they acquired it from Derek Wells Media back in 2017.  Jason was never involved.  The book also references the revenge porn story, indicating it took place from 2017- 2018 and it involved Oscar Nero (p. 116). I have no idea where this came from as Oscar was never involved in any revenge porn story, which did not occur until 2022 (four years after his character on the show died!) and involved Joss and Cam, with Esme Prince setting up Trina to take the blame. In addition to that, the book states that Port Charles' newspaper, The Invader was run by Julian Jerome, "and later Martin Grey..." (p. 116).  While The Invadeer has been run by a number of people on the show (Shawn Butler, Valentin Cassadine, Nina Reeves, Adrian DeWitt, and Alexis Davis), Martin Grey was never the head of that paper.

 

With the huge reliance on AI for so much these days, I'm left wondering if this book was not a product of AI.  It is lacking in any real depth, and it glosses over so much that has taken place in the 60-plus years of General Hospital's history, plus it contains some very glaring mistakes, that I find it hard to believe that Shanks put a whole lot of time into researching and writing this book.  With so many rich storylines, so many great characters, and so many years of amazing history to draw upon, this book is a disappointment in its lack of specifics and detail.  Longtime fans of the show will be extremely let down by this book, particularly with the $15.99 hardcover / $8.99 softcover prices (I bought the hardcover).  I would not recommend this book at all, unless you are someone who simply must have ever book out there about General Hospital - in that case, it might be worth it to you.  As for me, this will go on a shelf and likely never looked at again.

 

RATING:  3  hospital corridors echoing with hurried footsteps out of 10 for at the very least mentioning one of my favorite characters, Nelle Benson (although not at all mentioning my other favorite, Sabrina Santiago, even though she was instrumental in bringing the Nurse's Ball back to GH!).

 

 

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!

Hurricane Nurse - a Berkley orginal romance novel

I am not one for romance novels, but I happened across this book at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair a few years back.  I remember being curious about it, because with "hurricane" in the title, I figured it must have a Florida setting.  The price was a bit on the high side, so I passed it up.  The next year, I saw that the seller had the same book at the same price - meaning it clearly was not selling for the price he was asking, so I held off.  When I hit the book fair this year, you guessed it - the book was still with the seller, having not sold now for three years.  I made an offer, which the seller took, and I became the proud owner of a nurse / romance novel set in the southernmost part of Florida.  Now the question became - would I enjoy the book?

hurricane nurse (and yes, the title is actually spelled with small letters, not capitals) does not actually begin in Florida; rather, the reader is introduced to Betsy Stockwell and her father, Dr. Cal, in their hometown of Atlanta, where Dr. Cal is quite the famous surgeon at the local hospital.  When he has a serious heart attack, Besty is told her father must go someplace to convalesce where he can get plenty of rest and sunshine - hence, he is shipped off to Blue Heron Cay just off the Florida Keys (NOTE - there is no such place as "Blue Heron Cay," although, as we all know, the Florida Keys, and Key West in particular, are very real places).  Betsy, whose mother died when she was young and who is very close to her father (gee, what titian-haired detective does that sound like?), feels duty-bound to go with him, and thus, she must postpone her planned marriage to Dr. Paul Norbert, who is a bit hurt, but understands and promises to wait for her (yeah, like we don't already know that's not going to happen...).

Based on the title, I was expecting that once Nurse Betsy arrived in the Florida Keys, a horrific hurricane would come through, and she would be put to the test with her nursing skills helping out people injured due to the horrific storms that swipe through the area.  I mean, the cover gives the idea that in the middle of the storm, a shirtless man is carrying an injured woman to Betsy, so that she can administer first aid during the dangerous conditions.  The actual story, however, deals very little with the hurricane that does eventually come through - a hurricane that does very little damage.  There is a young girl who is injured when she crawls under her house trying to rescue her kitting just as the storm hits (this would be the young girl in the arms of the man on the cover - but in the story, the man is not shirtless, and Betsy is not outside waiting for him); but that is truly the only "drama" associated with the hurricane.

The main gist of the story is the hate/love relationship between Betsy and the island doctor who is watching over her father's recover, Dr. Mark Everett.  While Dr. Everett is congenial and friendly with Dr. Cal, he is aloof and downright rude to Betsy from the get-go.  She immediately resents the man to the point of almost hating him.  But, of course, as with any typical soap opera romance story, Dr. Everett has a secret in his past that, when Betsy learns what it is, paints the man in a whole new light, and she soon finds herself falling for him despite her fiance back home.  When Dr. Everett admits his own feelings for her after the hurricane, Betsy is torn, but she decides to remain true to Paul, and she returns home to Atlanta with her father after he is deemed fully recovered.  Of course, as can be expected, during her absence, Paul has fallen for Betsy's best friend, leaving Betsy free to back to Dr. Everett - but is it too late?  Has he already fallen prey to a bombshell vixen down in Key West, or does he still want to make her his wife?

Other than flying into the Key West airport, and brief mentions of Miami, there is very little detail at all about Florida, which was disappointing.  And the lack of any real hurricane drama also left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding the book and its deceptive title.  The one part of the story I did rather find amusing were the residents of the Inn there on Blue Heron Cay where Betsy and her father stay.  The owner, Davanna (no last name), is a gruff woman who has a heart for starving artists who are trying to make their big break (but none of whom are talented, so that big break is likely never to come).  There was the "tall, thin, emaciated looking woman" named Mavis, who is a poet; the "short, intense, bald man" name Allan, who considers himself a composer; the "middle-aged, rather fluttery woman" named Gertrude, a self-proclaimed artist; and the "lank, bearded young man" named Slug, who has no job, no talent, and no patience for those who do work in the real world (pp. 34-25).  It's definitely a motley crew of residents, and it was somewhat engaging to see Betsy's first reaction to them, but gradually watch as she becomes not only accustomed to their idiosyncrasies, but eventually feels they are a part of her own extended family. 

With regard to the hurricane, Davanna makes mention that the hurricanes do not usually come through there until late September (p. 62); however, Florida's hurricane season is typically from June through November, with August through September being the "busiest" months.  And looking back at the hurricanes that went through the Keys prior to 1961 when this book was published, it seems most of them hit in September (making Davanna technically correct in her observation).  And when the eye of the storm reaches the Cay (p. 66), you gotta give Davanna credit, as she warns Betsy that the calm is deceiving, as the storm will come back with full force as soon as the eye passes over.  I just truly wish the hurricane had made a bigger impact in the story, to give some level of credence to the title.

 

The author is Peggy Gaddis,  who was rather popular back in the day with her nurse romance novels.  She was a rather prolific author, with a writing career spanning thirty years.  While she wrote a number of books under her maiden name of Gaddis, she also wrote under a number of pseudonyms, such as Gail Jordan, Joan Sherman, Carolina Lee, Georgia Craig, and several others (including some male names).  I do have a couple of her other books, so when I do get around to reading them, I'm hoping they will be a bit better than this one.

The cover art is painted by Harry Bennett, who provided cover art for a large number of romance, gothic, and mystery paperbacks over the years.  You can find out some of the artist's history at this website:  Harry Bennett - Artist.  And, coincidentally enough, I actually own one of Bennett's original paintings, which was used for a young adult novel called The End of Innocence, published in 1972.  I would love to track down the original art for hurricane nurse, as that cover is definitely much more dramatic than the story inside!

RATING:  6 battered, spray-stained yachting caps out of 10 for at least throwing in a bit of mystery surrounding the island doctor's past to provide some drama to the story.

Carnival in Peyton Place - the second Peyton Place novel by Roger Fuller

Okay, it's time to return to that small New England town that has more drama going on within its city limits than every soap opera on TV put together!  This is the second book in author Roger Fuller's continuing stories of the townsfolk of Peyton Place. These stories give readers a chance to see some of the other people in Peyton Place, outside of the main characters from Grace Metalious's original two novels.  As with the first of Fuller's books, there are a few of the original characters who are mentioned or make a quick appearance, but this is not their story.  Also, as with Fuller's first story, this one is not really a sequel to Metalious's books, but rather, a story that runs concurrent with the events from those books.  And so, with this second book, we get a look at a new family who has some secrets of their own...

 

Carnival in Peyton Place is the story of the Welles family.  Unlike the Romeo/Juliet story of the Bramble and Welsh children from the prior book, this story takes a close look at four of the five members of the Welles family.  Lew Welles is the father, driven by a mad desire to be successful and a better man in the community than anyone, including Leslie Harrington.  Kathy Welles is his wife, who lost her arm years prior in a carnival fun house accident (more on that later).  Jim Welles is the only son, who has decided to follow his calling to be a minister.  Dina Welles is the oldest daughter, who has managed for years to keep every boy at bay and never once letting them get to even "first base."  And then there is Roberta, the youngest daughter and youngest of the three children, who, by the end of the story, is the only one in the family not keeping secrets.  It seems this one Labor Day weekend, when the carnival has come to town, all of the Welles' secrets are about to explode...

Let's start with Kathy Welles, shall we?  Formerly Kathy Ellsworth, we last saw her in the original Peyton Place novel by Grace Metalious.  She was friends with Allison MacKenzie, and she suffers a terrible trauma when a fun house accident results in the loss of one of her arms.  Of course, Leslie Harrington manages to win the lawsuit, paying out a miserly $2,500 to the young girl, despite her life being forever changed.  With this book, Fuller goes into considerable more detail as to what led to the incident, including Kathy first pregnancy, her doubts about whether Lew truly loves her, and her post-accident ability to rationalize anything to avoid dealing with the possibility that her own boyfriend may have been the one who pushed her that night at the carnival!  It's easy to sympathize with Kathy, as throughout the story, she proves herself capable of not only taking care of herself (despite having only one arm), but of also taking care of everyone around her.  You begin to realize, though, that she is overcompensating, and that she is not as oblivious to her husband philandering as others might think.

Which leads us to Lew Welles.  Lew is a man on a mission.  Coming from a poor background, Lew proved himself quite the pharmaceutical salesman, quickly working his way up in the company until he made a name for himself.  He fell in love with Kathy Ellsworth, but he did not want to start a family until much later in life - until fate intervenes, and Kathy ends up pregnant at 16, despite their use of protection (which, interestingly enough, is carefully talked around without actually saying it).  After her carnival accident, she loses the baby, but Lew feels guilty, so he marries her over her parents' objections.  Their life seems good at first, but Lew is drafted into the war, and everything changes.  He finds his desire for a "whole" woman leads him to cheat on his wife again and again, even after he returns home and they have children.  His latest affair - with the woman who plays the organ at their church! - may be his undoing, as it is not the secret he thinks it is.

And poor Jim Welles.  He has wondered through high school and college, unsure of what to do with his life.  At odds with his father over his political and social beliefs, Jim eventually believes he has been called to become a minister, and so he settles down and begins studying hard to do God's work.  But even that does not seem to satisfy his father.  On the night before the carnival opens, Jim makes his way down to the carnies, where the pre-opening night shenanigans include gambling, drinking, and some ladies who are more than willing to offer services that would never be permitted during the day!  Jim partakes of the taste of sin, only to stagger home full of regret and shame.  How can he be a minister if he falls prey to a sinful life so easily?  Is he truly called to be a minister, or is this simply another in his long list of failures that he calls a life?  Perhaps a confrontation with his father is what he needs to truly find himself once and for all.

Last, but by far not least, we come to Dina Welles.  A brilliant student at school.  Always courteous and well-mannered, and a symbol of virtue and propriety, never once letting any boy take advantage of her the way they do other girls her age.  In fact, she is called frigid, and the boys find her a challenge, hoping to be the "one" that opens her up (in more ways than one!).  But what none of them knows - in fact, only one person other than she knows - is that she has a horrific reason for being the way she is.  You see, her Uncle George ... the man she looked up to most in the world ... the man she admired and sought to please more than her own father ... the man that took her under his wing and taught her how to fish ... he also is the one that took her virginity by the most vile act a man can commit upon a woman, and that was when she was only fourteen-years old!  She has held that secret for years, and when her Uncle George kills himself (accidentally, the townsfolk believe, but Dina knows otherwise), will she finally be free of this cursed memory that has kept her from finding and experiencing love?

Labor Day arrives, the carnival opens, and all the walls in the Welles household come tumbling down.  While the book starts off at a slow pace, feeding the reader background information on each of the characters piece-meal by switching back and forth between the "present" and the past, it does gradually pick up speed, and by the final act, the story becomes a real page-turner that can't be put down.  Despite their flaws, Fuller creates characters that you come to not only care about, but that you can sympathize with and, to some degree, understand their actions.  That final confrontation between Lew and his son, Jim, is worth the read just by itself.  I honestly thought Fuller was leading in one direction with Jim, and he even hints at it, but perhaps because of the time period this was written, he could not go down that path (the same path I thought Metalious was taking with poor Norman in that first Peyton Place novel). 

I am definitely enjoying this series and how Fuller is building upon the characters and situations that saw little to no time in Metalious' two books.  Now that we've seen the Bramble, Welsh, and Welles families, I am anxious to see what families will face drama in the next book in this series...

RATING:  7 bottles of liver and iron tonic out of 10 for creating fresh drama for the denizens of Peyton Place to face.

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!

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!

Peyton Place - the Explosive Best Seller of a Respectable New England Town

Growing up, I can remember hearing my mom and some of her friends mention or talk about Peyton Place.  The only thing I ever really knew about it was that it was a soap opera and that Ryan O'Neal starred in it when he was young.  I never paid much attention, although I was admit I was surprised when I found out the television show was based on a movie of the same name.  It was not until many, many, MANY years later that I discovered that not only was the television show based on the film, but the film was based on a novel by Grace Metalious.  Well, wouldn't you know it, a couple of years ago while on vacation, I happened across the novel, Peyton Place, as well as its sequel, Return to Peyton Place, in a thrift store.  Being curious, I picked them up, and finally got around to reading the original story this month.  

"...Peyton Place, the best-seller about small town U.S.A. which has been damned and banned--and hailed as 'one of the most extraordinary literary discoveries of recent years'" reads the blurb on the back of the book.  The copy I purchased is a Dell Publishing Company edition, first published in September 1957, the year after its original release.  Now, with a blurb like that, I was curious about what could possibly be so controversial about a book written in the 1950s that would have caused it to be banned.  I mean, after all, they made it into a feature film in 1957 and eventually into a television series that ran for five years (1964-69).  Thus, I went into the book expecting it to be a typical romantic, soap-opera style drama with perhaps some unfaithful spouses or maybe even an abortion or two that would be considered scandalous at the time.  Boy, was I in for a shocking surprise!

Although written in the mid-1950s, the story actually takes place in 1939 through the mid-1940s.  There are a number of characters in the book, so it's hard to pinpoint exactly who the main character is supposed to be, but if I had to guess, I would say that Allison MacKenzie, a middle-schooler getting ready to make the move into high school as the book opens, is the protagonist of the story, although the author definitely delves into the lives of many other characters in the town of Peyton Place.  

Metalious opens the book very cautiously, endearing the reader to her small-town setting, with Indian summer leading the townspeople into a false sense of serenity before the hard winter hits.  There's the typical group of old men in the town square, who are probably bigger gossips than any of the local housewives.  There's the old doctor who still makes housecalls.  There's the wealthy man who runs the mill (and basically runs the town).  There's the spinster school teacher who wonders if she is reaching any of the students she teaches.  There's the family who live over in one of the shacks, where only the poor and degenerates live.  There's the single mom (Allison's mother, Constance) who is doing her best to raise a child on her own while running her own thrift store.  There's the town drunk, who manages to waste all the money he makes on alcohol, leaving his wife and two kids to suffer.  There's the young lawyer in town who wants to do what's right.  And there are a crew of teens and pre-teens who are eager to enter adulthood, discovering things about themselves and the opposite sex that lead them down the path of temptation and desire...

All of that seems pretty tame, especially by today's standards.  Well, just like Metalious's opening to the book provides a false sense of calm, so does the book provide the reader with a false sense of normalcy.  It isn't long after the story opens that readers discover Constance is keeping a huge secret from her daughter (and the whole town!) regarding Allison's father.  It is also revealed that Allison's friend, Selena, must deal with an abusive step-father and protect her younger brother, since their mother seems to be unable and unwilling to prevent her father's drunken outrages.  One night changes everything for both girls when Selena is raped by her own step-father while Allison watches from outside the shack where the Cross family lives.  She ends up pregnant, and with no one to turn to, she runs to the town doctor, who, upon finding out who put her in this condition, does the unthinkable (and illegal) act of aborting the child.  It's a secret they keep between them, but one that comes back to haunt them both before the end of the book...

Then there's the introduction of Michael Rossi, the school's new principal.  He takes an immediate liking to Constance MacKenzie, but eventually, that relationship leads to trouble between Constance and Allison, and the truth about Allison's father comes to light, forever changing that family dynamic.  There's also the mill owner's son, Rodney Harrington, who has never been held responsible for anything and fancies himself a ladies' man - but all the while, he is hiding the truth of his own virginity.  When he finally does get the chance to bring truth to all his lies, it's a road that leads to his own destruction, which begins the downfall of his father and his hold over Peyton Place.  The town is just chock full of people with secrets, from the Page sisters and their hatred of their late brother's widow to the woman everyone deems a witch who likes to watch through a hole in the shrubbery as her neighbors go at it to the town drunk who locks himself and three other men in a basement for weeks while they drink themselves into a stupor to the young girl who gets her arm mangled and torn right off in a faulty carnival ride to a shack-dwelling mother who hangs herself in Allison's closet to the young girl who kills her own step-father rather violently rather than let him lay one more finger on her.   Peyton Place may seem idyllic on the outside, but it's blacker than the most sinful soul once you start peeling away its layers...

And we must not forget poor little Norman Page.  This boy is quite an odd character in this book (which says a lot, considering the nature of many of these characters).  Introduced in the second chapter as "Little Norman Page," he is depicted as a fairly pathetic young boy, unable to defend himself.  He is later shown to be a mama's boy, to the extreme that it is revealed he enjoys having his mother give him enemas, and much later, the reader learns his mother continued to breast-feed him until he was four years old (with rumors she still fed him that way on occasion now).  There is a scene at the end of chapter 17 of Book One (the book is divided into three "books") that truly defines Norman's relationship with his mother - one of complete and utter co-dependency, with one unable to live without the other.  Reading this, it made me think of Norman Bates' relationship with his mother in the film and novel, Pyscho.  Turns out Psycho, written by Robert Bloch, was published in 1959, three years after this book came out.  Leaves one to wonder if perhaps Bloch got inspiration for his character from little Norman Page...

This book definitely features a lot of racy content for a book published in the mid-1950s!  By today's standards, it's probably not all that sensational.  Despite this, I definitely got caught up in the lives of these characters, and I found myself rooting for some and anxiously waiting for others to get their just desserts!  But I do wonder just how much of the book actually made it into the film, and what parts were removed or toned down for the film and later television series.  I see the two films and most of the television series are available on DVD on Amazon, so I'm thinking I need to purchase those and find out!

RATING:  9 goldenrod-filled clearings out of 10 for a tale of small town America fraught with every possible soap opera trope one can imagine, and then some!