A bobblehead of Grace Metalious and a copy of "Peyton Place" are on display at the New Hampshire State Library in Concord. (Dana Wormald | New Hampshire Bulletin)
Before “Fifty Shades of Grey” became a hit franchise and soap operas were a standard form of entertainment, an ordinary New Hampshire housewife named Grace Metalious sent shockwaves across the globe with the September 1956 publication of her debut novel, “Peyton Place.” She quickly became a literary phenomenon as her book remained on the best-seller list for 59 weeks, breaking the record previously held by Margaret Mitchell for “Gone with the Wind . ”
In “Peyton Place,” Metalious wrote of societal hypocrisy, lifting the lid off a “small New England town” as the original book jacket stated. Exploring taboo themes of rape, incest, sexuality, and even abortion, Metalious left readers stunned. Many devoured the book in secret while some schools banned it . Others were left speechless by the content.
Nearly seven decades have passed and Metalious’ most famous novel and the controversy surrounding it could still teach our collective American society a lesson or two.
In 2023, the American Library Association (ALA) documented the highest number of books ever challenged , rising by 65 percent over the previous year. The Top 10 challenged books as listed by the ALA center largely around novels with LGBTQ+ themes, explicit sexuality, and profanity. Many of the books are written for middle and high school kids and contain material that students in marginalized communities find relatable.
State legislatures across the country have also presented numerous bills that advocate for book banning , something that many English teachers like me see as problematic and dangerous. It’s not just modern books written for teens that are so often appearing on these lists. Books such as “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” have consistently been challenged for decades. This hearkens back to examples of censorship such as Nazi Germany, the McCarthy era, and what George Orwell sounded the alarm on in his own controversial novel “1984 . ”
New Hampshire itself has not been immune to the conversation of book banning as noted by the New Hampshire Bulletin’s February coverage of a bill that the House voted down. And even though New Hampshire does not make U.S. News’ list of the Top 10 states with the most book challenges, some 18 titles were challenged between 2020 and 2023.
“Peyton Place” is certainly no stranger to the conversation of book bans, noted in 2023 Boston Globe article about the failures of censorship. As the author notes, the McCarthy era was not far in the rearview mirror at the time the book was published. Although Metalious’ novel is tame in explicit content by today’s standards, the same fears of indoctrinating youth, denouncing family values, and promoting bad behavior worried promoters of book banning then just as now.
By all accounts, Metalious never expected “Peyton Place” to launch to the heights that it did. In archival footage featured in an episode of “AMC Backstory,” she voices doubt that the book will be well remembered for years to come. Despite that, the term “Peyton Place” has become synonymous with scandal and wrongdoing. Sen. Lindsey Graham famously asked during the Clinton impeachment trial in 1998 whether the stakes were like Watergate or Peyton Place. While her name carries very little recognition in 2024 and was likely not on the tip of Graham’s tongue despite his reference to her seminal novel, the recognition of her fictional New England town is still palpable among many.
This Sunday, Metalious would have turned 100 years old. Though she became an overnight sensation, penned three additional novels, saw two of her books adapted for Hollywood, and helped launch the era of primetime soaps, Metalious died of liver cirrhosis at age 39 due to years of alcohol abuse. The heavy price of fame and fortune, constant judgment by others, and familial difficulties did her in as much as the drinking. At the time of her passing, she had witnessed firsthand her fair share of censorship, challenges, and mockery surrounding her books. In spite of painting a vivid and true image of New England life and the hypocritical “hush hush” mentality of small towns, too many looked upon her with a critical lens.
Today, renewed interest in Metalious’ novels has led to “Peyton Place” and its sequel getting reprinted and the former being featured in college and university courses on postmodern American literature. Scholars like Emily Toth and Ardis Cameron have published biographies of her life and literary phenomenon, arguing that her writing ability is far superior to the tawdry label she carried for many years.
Here in the Granite State, local scholars continue to speak about her. At New Hampshire Humanities, a Perspectives book group has been led thanks to librarian Tammi Truax and a presentation by author and historian Robert Perreault focuses on Metalious’ early years as a Franco-American girl born in Manchester. This Saturday, Perreault will deliver his talk at the Millyard Museum in Manchester , diving into the lesser known side of Metalious, who was born Marie Grace DeRepentigny in the Queen City in 1924. You can even visit The Gilmanton Winery on the site of her longtime home and enjoy local spirits.
Grace Metalious may have died young and in debt. Some of her books may have faded out of print. She may carry less recognition today than other writers of her era. But her messages of societal hypocrisy and telling the truth are more valuable to us than ever before. Her experience of being shunned, ridiculed, and challenged should remind us all of our own hypocrisy. The next time we hear of book bans and censorship bills rather than legislation to reform our education system, prevent gun violence, and address homelessness and housing affordability, let us remember that Grace Metalious warned us all of the dangers of hypocrisy far before most others did. We know that history will continue to repeat itself otherwise, something Metalious would likely want us to avoid.
Society has both changed and remained the same 100 years later, and we must not go backward when it comes to the freedom to read, write, and say what we want to.
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