Looking for Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky is a 2005 Scribner publication.

Everyone has probably heard of 'Peyton Place' even if they have never read the book, watched the movie, or the television series- which is the category I fall into.

That said, I know exactly what someone means when they invoke a Peyton Place type comparison.

In this novel, Middle River, New Hampshire was the basis for Grace Metalious’s shockingly scandalous novel published back in the 1950s. Grace was also a kind of imaginary friend for Annie Barnes who grew up in Middle River and left as one of its least popular citizens. The joke was on Middle River and its citizens, though, when Annie went on to become a famous author in her own right.

Annie has a fabulous life in Washington, but when her mother dies, she feels compelled to ask a few questions about her cause of death, which had been attributed to Parkinson’s. When she arrives back in Middle River for a month- long stay, the town is in uproar, convinced she is there to right a book about them…

Annie’s not interested in writing another “Peyton Place”- she just wants to know what ailed her mother and is causing her sister to exhibit the same symptoms. When the local doctor suggests a possible connection between the symptoms and the local Mill, Annie is determined to find out if the powerful family who owns the mill have anything to hide…

Oh, my goodness- the name Barbara Delinksy brings back memories- there was a time when I devoured Judith Krantz, Danielle Steel, and Jackie Collins novels- and Delinsky was also one of those female authors I couldn’t get enough of back in the mid to late eighties.

Unfortunately, I lost track of her, and the other authors I mentioned, over the years, as my taste and range changed, evolved and expanded. But when I saw this book listed in the KU library, I immediately checked it out and couldn’t wait to reacquaint myself with this author.

I enjoyed the story- it was high on drama, family tensions, and filled with dark, small-town secrets and scandals- which is right up my alley. The story is a little bit too long, though, and could have been trimmed up a bit for the sake of pacing and to increase the suspense, but other than that, I like the way it all played out, with family coming together to support a common cause, under enormous pressure, the nice romantic elements, and the satisfying conclusion- with the good guys coming out on top, against all odds.

This book is about eighteen years old-but holds up well. I love a good David versus Goliath story, and exploring the underbelly of small-town life with is often surprisingly sinister. I also came away with an interest in reading Grace’s original version of small-town maliciousness someday- and maybe try to catch the movie version as well.

Overall, a solid work of contemporary fiction from this seasoned author. It was nice to touch base with this old friend after many years- and since I’ve missed out on many of her more recent publications, I think we should stay in touch more often!

3.5 rounded up.
' ( )

great

great

For Annie Barnes, going back to her hometown of Middle River, New Hampshire, meant facing truths long buried in the past; some of which she had buried herself. But it is a journey that she knows she must make, if she is ever to put to rest, once and for all, her misgivings about her mother's recent death.

To the outsider, Middle River is a picture-perfect New Hampshire town. But not to Annie Barnes. She grew up there and knows all its secrets; as did her idol Grace Metalious - author of the shocking novel Peyton Place, which laid bare a small town's sexual secrets for all to see. Although Grace had actually lived in a nearby town, the residents of Middle River had always believed that she had used them and their their little town as the inspiration for her revolutionary novel. Some even insisted that Annie's own grandmother served as the model for Grace's most scandalous character. With those rumors and whispers about Peyton Place haunting her childhood, Annie found herself identifying so closely with Grace that she picked up everything and moved out of Middle River in order to start a whole new life for herself in Washington, D. C.

It's a good life too. Annie Barnes is now a bestselling author, reaching that level on the strength of only three novels. It has given Annie a confidence that she never believed she had growing up in Middle River, New Hampshire. Her attitude has the townspeople on edge when they learn she has come back into town for a rather lengthy visit. Everyone; including Annie's two sisters, believes that she has come back specifically to write about them.

Although she is amused by the discomfort that her return causes the town, Annie has no intention of writing a novel about the town or its people. It is her mother's death -under suspicious circumstances - that has drawn Annie back. Soon her probing investigations begin to make people nervous, and when she discovers evidence of harmful pollutants emanating from the local paper mill - she finds herself at odds with almost all the townspeople. She is amazed at how unfazed they, as well as members of her own family are by the possiblity that toxins are seeping through the town. Because the mill is the town's only employer, they are frightened of what could happen if Annie digs any deeper. That fear ultimately turns ugly. But Annie is on a mission; and with the legacy of Grace Metalious to guide her, she will come face-to-face with the decades of secrets and lies that Middle River hides. Annie will eventually find the strength to help heal the wounded town, as well as her own wounded family.

I did enjoy this book; it was very well-written and quite lyrical in places; however, I thought that it focused a bit too much on Grace Metalious and the writing of Peyton Place, so that it was slightly rushed towards the end. I give this book a B+! ( )

The successful big-city middle sister comes back to town after her mother's death to face a hostile sister and a sick sister and a town that is afraid she may write about them like in Peyton Place. From there the plot thickens as she faces the hostilities and tries to mollify her sisters and gets mental messages from the Peyton Place author. The owners of the big paper mill run the town and try to run her out, but her research leads to suspicion of previous mercury spills that were covered up, except for the symptoms that are killing people. The book has a lot of twists and turns and yet turns out to have a happy ending. ( )