When I used to intern at a small publishing company, if there weren't many tasks for me to do that day, I'd occasionally scour Amazon and read the first few pages of books that looked interesting—professional, I know. But I found a lot of great books that way! One book I found was Peyton Place. I hadn't heard of it before, even though it's been around since the 1950s.
I bought it on a whim at my school bookstore and once I started reading it, I couldn't stop! I think that my favorite part of this book is its scope! The author, Grace Metalious, writes about an entire town and its inhabitants with such ease and artistry. The book is easy to read and easy to follow despite how many characters there are. This is one of the books that simultaneously makes me want to give up writing and inspires me to be better.
The book is a composite of all small towns, but is specifically set in the fictional, New England town of Peyton Place. It fully embodies what every small, New England town is like and all the characters are exceptionally realistic. Further, when this book was first published, it was seen as extremely scandalous and was even banned in some states! While it might not be seen as scandalously now as it was then, there certainly are a lot of dirty little secrets that are enticing and exciting to read about.
Peyton Place is so full of beautiful prose and intriguing story lines, you will find yourself absorbed in this little town from the first page! I highly recommend this novel and I'm wondering if anyone has read the sequel, Return to Peyton Place. I certainly wanted the book to last forever, but I'm also wary of sequels. Thoughts?
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