Peyton Place

By: Grace Metalious

Narrated by: Tim O'Connor

Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1956, when this novel was first published, communities all over New England snapped up copies to see if they were the town portrayed in the book. Peyton Place is the story of a repressive New England town known for its high standards of public morality, and the steamy sexual activities that take place behind its bedroom doors. While the town's rigid mores lead to hypocrisy and repression, the earthy characters have an unbelievably high level of sexual functioning, especially the playboy Rodney Harrington and the profoundly round-heeled Betty Anderson. In this environment, Allison McKenzie, a dreamy girl coming to womanhood, must make her way without a father, living with her frigid mother, Constance McKenzie.

©1956 Grace Metalious (P)2001 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Metalious was a competent writer with some flair whose punchy workmanlike prose efficiently captured her little inland New England hamlet's earthy (if somewhat unbelievably sexually functional) populace." (Kirkus Reviews)

Better than expected.

Better than I expected and I waited too long to listen to this. Especially enjoyed the history behind the book at the end.

Quality Writing

Candid tale of a small town. Real. I like the happy ending, if a person considered it happy.

Astoundingly beautiful!

This is a must read! I could not put it down, beautifully written and composed. The narration was perfectly on point.

fun4gracie

Listened to this book twice so far and probably will again. It is truly the best book I've listened to in 4 years. This was the #1 best seller in the 20 th century and after listening to it you will agree. Just terrific.

Wow, this book is about more than I thought it was

What a great book! I had no idea. Had it not been trashed by the terrible soap opera that used its title, I’d have read it long ago, and been the better for it. This book isn't about sex at all, though it includes it as part of the narrative, it's about class and gender. It's beautifully written, despite the rape scene that was included on the insistence of the publishers, who thought it would sell more books.Grace Metalious was too real and fresh to realize how a sexually repressed nation would pounce on the sexuality of the characters and fail to realize what else was going on in the book. Women had ownership of their lives and actions. Wow! Still a good and worthwhile read after 50+ years.
The narrator was perfect. He got out of the way and let the words and characters speak. I looked for other books he'd narrated on audible, nada. Damn. He's good.

great modern writing

excellent writing, magnifcent description,good characterization, to a large extent a coming of age saga. great portraiture of the human condition

highly recommended

Very good. Remembered from the past👍

I had never read the book only seeing the movie. I wish the cussing was eliminated but is seemed to be the true character speaking. Of course that was not part of the movie.
I can’t imagine the impact years ago when released but sometimes shocking stirs debate and much included here. Hearing the words has much more impact than reading or it is for me. Glad I didn’t read & enjoyed the oral. The presenter was excellent and perfect for the setting of the book.

Best book I've read to date!

Until now, I would say "To Kill A Mockingbird" is my favourite book; however, after reading "Peyton Place," I think that is now my fave of all time. I watched the movie a bunch of times before ever reading the book, and obviously they couldn't deal with everything in the book for the movie in the "old days" because the book has way more scandalous details.

This book really tells a fascinating story and is a real page-turner. The Audible audio version has a very nice one-hour "bonus" at the end where the narrator talks about the history of the book, how it came to be, stuff about the author, how it was banned in many stores, libraries, and how it was even ILLEGAL to import the book to Canada in the 1950s!

This book is never dull; the characters are a scream; and it is guaranteed to entertain!

Going to watch the movie again, along with the sequel ("Return to Peyton Place") and also plan on renting the TV series (which I've never seen).

Peyton Place

I vaguely remember hearing the grown-ups talk about this when I was a child. The weekly series was a real hit - and now I know why. This was a captivating story - it made you angry, happy and sad.

THEN AND NOW OH HOW WE'VE CHANGED

I am a 50 something woman and thus have heard about this book and how racy it was for it's time. This was a book that libraries would not keep on their shelves. Some countries would not allow it to be imported. It was kept in locked drawers and away from the youth of the time. Reading this in the 16th year of the 21st century would make one wonder what all the fuss was about. We have become so desensitized to sex and scandal that had this book been written today it would likely be laughed at.

However, the story is truly interesting as is the town. It brings back memories of growing up in a small community where everyone knows everyone else's business. It actually made me feel so nostalgic I took a drive through my old town. Much changed of course, but still nice to reminisce.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to step back in time when the world was much more innocent in what was considered taboo.