The 'Peyton Place' Murder by Renee Mallett is a highly recommended examination of author Grace Metalious and the murder that influenced her scandalous book Peyton Place.

Renee Mallett delves into the life of Grace Metalious, from her very modest beginnings in Manchester, New Hampshire, to the aftermath of the 1956 publication of her novel Peyton Place. The novel Metalious wrote follows the lives of residents, their secrets, and a shocking murder that occurs in a fictional small New England town she named Peyton Place. When the novel was published it was a huge best-seller, generated a sequel, two movies, and a long-running TV series. The title in and of itself became synonymous with forbidden secrets, sexually charged scandals, and murder. Metalious "became a pariah in the town where she lived, and tabloid fodder for years, ultimately leading to the her untimely death at the age of 39." The murder in her novel was based on a true crime that happened in Gilmanton, New Hampshire, in the late 1940s called "The Sheep Pen Murder." The young woman who was the killer was Barbara Roberts. Although the novel made a few changes in the facts behind the case, Mallett makes a clear connection between the facts of the earlier true crime and Metalious's novel.

This is a well written and presented account of the life of Metalious and the aftermath of her best selling novel. For those of us who read the novel, or saw the movies, or the TV series, the scandal the novel inspired makes sense when examined from the time the novel was written. Today it would not be the shocking novel that it was in 1956. Mallett does an excellent job providing the facts and the harsh judgments that female writers faced during that time period. Metalious is portrayed realistically, as a woman who had flaws but also faced the biases of the times on her own terms. This is a fast, complete, and compelling nonfiction book.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of WildBlue Press via BookSirens.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/09/the-peyton-place-murder.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4250085446 ( )

First off, I have to say that the title rather got me, as it did many readers. Perhaps the book should have been named: The True Crime Story Behind the Novel Peyton Place. In that instance, people would know immediately what the book contained. Saying that, I did know that there was a true crime that somewhat inspired the novel, just as I knew that Grace Metalious died at 39 years of age. Sad it is, but she made her choices, even if they weren't good ones.

And indeed they weren't. This book paints Metalious as a selfish, self-centered woman who wanted only what she wanted, and anyone and anything else just got in her way. It paints her as a slovenly woman who didn't keep house, cook, or care for her children, really. All she wanted to do was write. I have great respect for authors, as I love to read and practically devour books; but not to the detriment of leaving things around home undone or not caring about my home and children. I would also like to believe authors today manage to combine their writing with the rest of their lives. Obviously Metalious had no such qualms about anything.

When she heard of the murder, which was a sensation in its time, she managed to incorporate it in her book, which lead to the people of her town thinking they were being incorporated also (which may well have been the case); but in so doing, it doesn't make them come off well at all. They seem to be a small-minded township of people who vilify anyone who might even go against them. This does not seem to be a town I would want to live in, much less visit. They come off as a nasty group indeed. I can't say whether I would like to be in a book or not, since it has never come up, but I would like to think that I would have more generosity in my heart. Ah, such is life.

To the murder: a young woman -- same as in the book -- killed her father for the same reasons. The town rallied for her, her family rallied for her, and it became national headlines, mainly for the fact that she was well-liked, poised, and beautiful. To find the outcome of this, you will have to read the book because I have no intention of saying any more about it.

But the book shows this impact on Grace, and when she began making money from the book, she squandered all of it as soon as it came in. There were lawsuits and problems in her marriage and home life, but nothing mattered except what she wanted, and this is what ruined her. It is difficult to maintain any sympathy for such a woman, but one can agree that the book was indeed a sensation...but at what cost? ( )