After giving some well-earned praise to the classic of
all classics PEYTON PLACE by Grace Metalious a few years back on this little
blog of mine I was very weary of reading the sequel, RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE (1960, Dell). The main reason being I didn’t
want it to pale in comparison. ‘Cause let’s face it, Metalious is no Jackie
Collins. She’s a very talented lady, but compared to the queen of trash, rising
to the challenge may be a difficult task for her. Well, turns out it was, for RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE is fine but
overall half as fun as its prequel.
The main problem is the feel of the novel. It seems
like a rushed project, as if the author just wanted to be done with it and the faster
the better. There’s barely any passion in it. Sure, rekindling with the main
character and most of the town’s friends and foes is fun but the excitement factor
tires out very quickly when boredom settles in instead. I probably shouldn’t
say boredom. Blandness is much a better word. Everything is so bland this time
around.
After making a name for herself as a writer in
New-York Allison returns to her hometown following the publication of her first
novel and faces the hostility of most of its residents who think she has sold
their secrets for a quick buck. Things go from worse to worse when the book
ends up being banned from the school library and her stepdad gets fired from
his job as the school principal. Moreover, it seems that once goodie-two-shoes Allison
has followed in her mother’s footsteps and become a mistress herself. Mix it
all with a slew of subplots involving an attempt at dissolving a marriage, the
return of a slutty character (Betty) now with child, and an acquitted for
murder rape survivor (Selena) trying to adjust to her new life as a business
woman and you got yourself one tepid sequel that should have been so much
hotter.
Yes, I may be a bit too harsh on this one. Then again
maybe not. What did come out of reading RETURN
TO PEYTON PLACE is the feeling of being cheated, since I was led to believe
that the fun would be just as grand. Therefore I stand my ground and give this
novel just a meh rating. Only those
hardcore fans of the infamous town will perhaps be charmed again by this sequel.
As for the rest of us, perhaps her next novel THE TIGHT WHITE COLLAR will do
the trick.
Until next post—Martin
 |
| 1959 Hardcover |
4 comments:
Thanks for the review, or rather, thanks for reading Return to Peyton Place so I don't have to. Like you, I loved , finding it more satirical than dirty. James Jones' From Here to Eternity was far more frank in portraying sexuality, and the language was definitely R-rated at times (favorite swear word from that book, "fiddlefuck"), but it was Grace Metalious who was corrupting the readers of America. But it appears Grace really only had one book in her.
Incidentally, there's a reason Return reads like a rush job: according to this 2006 Vanity Fair article (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2006/03/peytonplace200603), it was. Grace, a full-blown alcoholic at the time, wrote it for a generous advance, handing in a novella (described as "barely intelligible" in the Vanity Fair piece) that was fleshed out by ghost writers. How Harold Robbins of her!
Thanks for your insightful input, John. I will definitely take a look at the link you provided. Come back anytime.
I just finished Return to Peyton Place and completely agree with you on all counts. I have a real love for the original novel and have read it several times. But Return really fails in comparison I did not buy the attempted murder subplot for one moment. Bringing Betty Anderson back and then not really doing one thing with her character just seemed like filler. All in all it was kind of boring and felt very rushed.
Welcome aboard, Larry. Yes, it did feel kind of rushed, didn't it? Oh well, hope her other novels are better. *Cross fingers*.
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