Facts From the Life of Grace Metalious

How Did Grace Metalious Learn to Write?

Grace was an indifferent student — but an avid reader. As early as 4th grade, Grace was writing stories about an imaginary brother. Grace thought herself homely, fat, ugly, and stupid, but her fantasy brother loved her in spite of her flaws. She blossomed and grew beautiful in his eyes — he gave her the male approval she never got at home.

Grace's high school English curriculum had a masculine orientation and included few female writers. Grace mocked David Copperfield's idealism, perhaps to cover up her own sentimental side.

She never completed any formal training in writing. In her own words, 'I just try to tell my story as clearly as I can.'

Where did Grace Metalious write?

Grace's childhood writing studio — her first room of her own — was her Aunt Georgie's bathroom. She worked in the bathtub with a board across her knees.

When she was married, Grace's typewriter sat in the only clean corner in her home. Grace was no homemaker. The rest of her house was a pig's sty.

What kind of man attracted Grace Metalious?

George Metalious was 'the first boy who ever looked at my mouth when I was talking.' She later saw that George had the ability to sound convincing when he was thoroughly insincere. George wanted to be seen as a powerful, strong, and silent man. Grace wanted the approval of precisely this kind of man.

Later, she married T.J. Martin, her manager. Grace saw T.J. as her romantic hero.

All of Grace's relationships were stormy. She and George separated and reconciled numerous time. Ultimately, they divorced, but they remarried after Grace and T.J. broke up from their brief 20-month marriage.

What motivated Grace Metalious to work instead of being a housewife?

Grace grew up in a French Catholic family. Her mother aspired to upward mobility, and her father left early on when he couldn't give her that upward mobility. Grace always felt a need to 'achieve the heights,' probably because of her mother Laurette's striving to be part of a higher society.

Grace felt conflicting loyalties to the women in her family and to her husband. Increasingly, she resented him for making her choose. He, in turn, was angry at her feminism. 'Why the hell can't you do things like everybody else?' he asked.

By the late 1940's and early 50's, the postwar image of women was setting in — domestic icon, 'loving sweetheart and devoted wife who lived only for (and through) others.' By the mid-50's, 60% of America's young women dropped out of college to marry. George Metalious bought into it — the man's place was in the world and the woman's was in the home. Grace disagreed.

By age of 26 (1950), Grace turned compulsively to writing Peyton Place, often to the neglect of her children. Her home was filthy and she herself was unkempt. Grace wasn't writing solely to make money — she had a vision to communicate, about women, outsiders, small-town hypocrisies. 'The function of a novel is to entertain, but you can grind an ax at the same time,' Grace said in an interview.

Why did Grace Metalious write about scandals?

Scandal popped up in Grace's own life. She and her husband George were both raised to marry their own and to please their mothers — therefore they were defiant together and decided to live together which, in 1943, was scandalous. They eventually married, less than eight months before their first child, Marsha, was born.

As a young couple, George worked the day shift at mill, Grace worked 7 p.m. to midnight. She had her first affair, but only after she knew George was cheating on her. Gradually, Grace and George were apart more and more. Their marriage was stressed by flirtations and affairs with others.

Were the Peyton Place characters based on real people?

Grace used characters she knew or read about in newspapers.

Tomas Makris, the high school principal in Peyton Place, was renamed Michael Rossi in all future Peyton Place enterprises (sequel, movie,TV series), after the real Tomas Makris, an acquaintance of Grace and George, filed suit.

Was Peyton Place a real or fictitious town?

Grace chose the name Peyton Place because it was 'a two-word name with balance and not the name of any real American town.' Indeed, no actual town corresponds to Peyton Place in either both population and location. Like 'King's Row,' Peyton Place opened with an aerial view. 'King's Row' showed Grace the kind of book she wanted to write: an anatomy of small-town virtues and vices, with sordidness and nobility, seriousness, and humor.

Though Peyton Place was fictitious, the people of Gilmanton, NH, felt their town had been used as a model. Gilmantonians were as upset by Grace's remarks ('these towns look as peaceful as a postcard picture ... beneath that picture it's like turning over a rock with your foot — all kinds of strange things crawl out ... everybody known what's going on ... but they don't want outsiders to know') as much as they were upset by the book.

Why Was Grace Metalious critical of small town life?

George took a teaching job in Belmont, NH in the winter of 1952-53. Grace hated being a schoolteacher's wife — this was her first experience living in a small town, where constant scrutiny meant less margin for eccentricity. George was busy and she felt unloved.

Were Grace Metalious and Allison MacKenzie of PEYTON PLACE alike?

Grace was born in 1924, 4 months after her parents married, so like Allison, she was considered to be an illegitimate child.

Grace and Allison grew up in families run by women who were very independent for their era. Both of Grace's grandmothers were fairly emancipated women who supported themselves without men and lived outside the traditional French views of a woman's place. Peyton Place was unusual for its time not only in its 'naughtiness' but in Allison's going out on her own to become an independent woman.

As a child, Grace had Allison's feelings of loneliness and isolation. In Peyton Place, Grace sometimes rewrote the script of her own life — e.g., Tom Makris did for Allison and Connie what no one could do for Grace and Laurette in real life.

Like Allison, Grace had a complicated relationship with her mother. The ties linking mother and daughter ranged from guilt, envy, longing, and anger to similarity. Her own mother sued her after an auto accident with Grace at the wheel. Laurette eventually disappeared. She didn't come to Grace's funeral. No one in the family knows whether she is alive or dead.

Was it easy for Grace Metalious to find a publisher for Peyton Place?

The original manuscript of Peyton Place was rejected by every publishing house in New York except the two that were headed by women. Kitty Messner, president of Julian Messner Inc., bought the hardcover rights, while Helen Meyer, head of Dell Publishing, bought the paperback rights.

Was Peyton Place published just as Grace had written it?

There were changes, starting with the title. The original manuscript was called, 'The Tree and the Blossom,' but an ad agency renamed it Peyton Place for marketing purposes.

Grace took all editorial comments to heart — her ego was fragile — so publisher Kitty Messner took over and became a sort of mentor. Under her direction, Grace made many small stylistic changes. She also made a biggie. In the original manuscript, Selena Cross was abused and impregnated by her father, but discussion of this issue was so forbidden in the 1950's that the publisher made Grace change Lucas from 'father' to 'step-father.' Grace did feel that this destroyed the book.

What was the marketing strategy for Peyton Place?

Grace's publisher launched a massive ad campaign for the book. Early publicity painted an image of Grace conforming with expectations in 1955. 'But if fame does come her way,' said an article in the Laconia Citizen, 'home in Gilmanton still holds for her the very best in happiness and security.'

To paint a picture of a young, innocent, vulnerable Grace, they took the famous picture of Grace with her hair pulled back, wearing her flannel shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. The picture was called 'Pandora in Blue Jeans.' Ad people decided that the appeal of Peyton Place would be the contrast between the respectable author — who as small-town mother and schoolteacher's wife, fit perfectly the 1950's image of conformity — and the shocking contents of her book.

A major feature of the publicity campaign for Peyton Place touted the book as being so shocking that Grace Metalious's husband, George, was fired as school principal because of it. In fact, George was fired before the book came out and for reasons separate from the book.

The marketing campaign was brilliant. The hype rose and the book finally was published on Sept 24, 1956, It stayed on bestseller list 26 weeks. 104,000 copies were sold within a month of publication, while the average first novel sold 3,000 copies.

Did the 'Pandora in Blue Jeans' photo represent the real Grace Metalious?

Grace was definitely not into glamour. When she appeared on Mike Wallace's 'Night Beat,' Grace showed up for the interview looking 'chubby — plain — like a New Hampshire farm lady,' according to Mike. He was taken by how she took him on. He described her as 'ample, not unattractive' — and very much in charge of herself.

Did Grace Metalious become rich from writing Peyton Place?

Grace had no control over her money as it came in -- her lawyer took control. As it ended up, Grace saw little or none of the money from the movie of the book or its sequel. With George's help, Grace found she was being robbed by her agent. By the time Grace died, she was penniless.

How did reviewers react to Peyton Place?

Reviewers were cruel to Grace and the book. Small-town reviewers were more hostile, while big city ones often saw virtues, or at least promise in the book.

Was Peyton Place seen as a book about sex?

Peyton Place's sexuality hit just as Elvis was hitting it big. Elvis and Peyton Place shared the forbidden fruit, i.e., intimations of sex. Grace grew through her writing. As it became more sexually explicit, she became more uninhibited herself.

The 'good parts' of Peyton Place were well known. Most copies opened to them. Those who read the entire book found more: an attack on small-town hypocrisy and conformity, on violence against the powerless, and on restricted lives for women -- all the traps Grace had hoped to escape by writing the book.

Some considered Peyton Place 'the premiere novel of its genre': small-town, multiple viewpoints, what goes on behind the facade.

Why is the writing style in Return to Peyton Place so different from Peyton Place?

Grace didn't want to write a sequel at all. She had spent a year writing Peyton Place, but only 30 days writing Return to Peyton Place. Because Grace was drinking heavily during her second marriage to her manager, T.J. Martin, much rewriting was necessary. Some parts were rewritten by Warren Miller, though his name appeared nowhere in the book.

Return to Peyton Place was published in November 1959 to poor reviews. It also opened with a description of the season in New England -- winter. No hope and growth in this one, just bitter women.

What Was Grace's favorite book?

A year without alcohol enabled Grace to finish The Tight White Collar. Like Peyton Place, the book got mostly good notices from big-city reviewers. In this book, Grace took the long view — how people become who they are. She examined men more thoroughly than she did in Peyton Place, seeing them as pursuing four goals: jobs, their others, liquor, and each other. Loneliness is a major affliction affecting those in The Tight White Collar. Grace always considered this book her favorite novel.

Why did Grace Metalious stop writing after No Adam in Eden?

Financial problems were mounting -- there was talk of a sequel to the sequel —Peyton Place Revisited — but Grace never wrote it. She turned to her more 'creative work' — No Adam in Eden. Grace lost all discipline as a writer. She would write in fevered spurts. The book was published on September 24, 1963 and received the worst reviews yet. Grace never wrote again.

Grace Metalious died so young (age 39). Was she always sickly?

Grace's health issues began in childbirth with 1st baby Marsha. The experience was so bad, the doctors warned her not to have more children. She ignored this advice. With 2nd baby Christopher, a.k.a. Mike, George missed the delivery. This delivery was easier, but Grace still did not mention the doctors' warnings to George.

In July 1950, Grace gave birth to another daughter by breech birth. Grace nearly died — she actually had an out of body experience. She was warned never to have another child and finally agreed to have her tubes tied. She was left feeling like a failure as a woman. Grace continued to write — continued to identify with the outsider, the character dependent on others for approval.

Ultimately, though, Grace died from cirrhosis — chronic liver disease. It is generally believed that she drank herself to death.

Why did Grace start drinking heavily?

Grace divorced George Metalious on February 25, 1958 and married T.J. Martin, her manager, on February 28, 1958. He wanted her to be glamorous, and she was not. He was her manager; he wanted her to write. She ate and drank with him, then did both alone. She would disappear for two weeks at a time, off on binges. Grace ultimately divorced T.J. on Oct 6, 1960.

George came back to take care of her. They remarried on Oct 12, 1961. She went to live with him and the kids on Martha's Vineyard, then they moved back to Gilmanton. She never stopped drinking.

Grace drank to escape, to overcome shyness and insecurity, to take the edge off. Having surrendered her identity as wife and writer, and with her children grown and independent, she had nothing to look forward to. She had big money worries and was committing suicide slowly with alcohol.

The people around her were afraid of her and afraid to criticize her drinking. Ultimately, George abandoned her again.

Grace was drinking so badly that she missed a major publicity appearance in Dallas — back home there were times when she would leave children at her friend's dance studio, then immerse herself in drinking and forget about them, so that he would drive them home.

What propelled Grace to, in essence, commit suicide?

The bitter message Grace took from success and fame and endless pressure to continue was that there was no point in dreaming, especially for women. Grace's money was spent, her editor and her charming French agent had both disappeared from her life, her husband was irrevocably lost.

Paired up with John Rees, a British journalist working for the Boston Mirror, she changed her will within hours of her death to leave what little she had to John so that he could provide for her children.

Grace died on Tuesday, February 25, 1964, at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston of cirrhosis — chronic liver disease.

How did scholars view Grace after her death?

Harold Robbins was friendly with Grace Metalious. He said, 'I saw many correlations between Grace's life and the (women's) movement. ... I saw firsthand what success can do to a woman.' His book, 'Lonely Lady,' captures the core of Grace's life: self-destruction, rejection of support from other women, misunderstanding by the media, who interpreted her and her characters' struggles for autonomy as struggles for sex.

College professor Susan Koppelman put Peyton Place on her reading list at Bowling Green University in 1973. Though her students had been toddlers when the book first appeared, they found it still had power to entertain and move them. With the vision of the '70s, they also saw the book's implicit feminism. Allison MacKenzie was a role model, the image of the woman they wound like to be.

Grace would have liked to know that Peyton Place was being taught in a college curriculum. She had always longed to be taken seriously as a writer. Indeed, students studying her work considered her a liberating cultural influence. Yes, the book was 'sexy,' but students also absorbed its messages about women's movement issues: abortion, rape, women's friendships, battered women, sexual freedom, and independence. Without knowing it, they had read and loved a feminist book.

Grace was remembered by friends for her talent, her self-destruction, her need for love, and her ultimate loneliness.

What are the sources for these facts about Grace Metalious?

Metalious, George and June O'Shea. The Girl From Peyton Place. New York: Dell Publishing Company, Inc., 1965.

Metalious, Grace. Peyton Place. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999.

Toth, Emily. Inside Peyton Place. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981.