Grace Metalious facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Grace Metalious
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Metalious in 1957
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| Born | Marie Grace DeRepentigny September 8, 1924 Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | February 25, 1964 (aged 39) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable works | Peyton Place |
| Spouse | George Metalious (1943-1958; div. remarried 1960-1963. separated) T.J. Martin (1958-1960; div.) |
| Children | 3 |
Grace Metalious (born September 8, 1924 – died February 25, 1964) was an American author. She is best known for her book Peyton Place. This novel became one of the biggest selling books ever published.
Contents
Grace Metalious: A Famous Author
Early Life and Writing Dreams
Marie Grace DeRepentigny was born in Manchester, New Hampshire. This was a mill town, meaning it had many factories. From a young age, she loved to write. She also acted in school plays at Manchester Central High School.
After finishing school, she married George Metalious in 1943. She became a housewife and a mother. Even though they lived simply, Grace kept writing. When they had one child, they moved to Durham, New Hampshire. There, George went to the University of New Hampshire. In Durham, Grace Metalious started writing more seriously. After George graduated, he became a school principal in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
The Story of Peyton Place
In the fall of 1954, when she was 30 years old, Grace Metalious started writing a book. It was about the hidden stories of a small New England town. The first title she thought of was The Tree and the Blossom. By the spring of 1955, she had finished her first draft.
How the Book Got Its Name
Grace and her husband, George, thought The Tree and the Blossom was a difficult title. They decided to name the town in the book something that could also be the book's title. They first thought of "Potter Place," which is a real place. But they wanted a made-up name. They looked at a map and found "Payton," a town in Texas. They combined this with "Place" and changed the "a" to an "e." That's how Peyton Place got its name! Grace said, "Wonderful—that's it, George. Peyton Place. Truly a mix of all small towns where things are hidden, and people try to keep secrets." Some people say her publishers changed the name.
Finding a Publisher
Grace Metalious found an agent named M. Jacques Chambrun. He sent her book to three big publishers. In the summer of 1955, a reader named Leona Nevler read it for Lippincott. She liked the story, but it was very bold for its time. She showed it to Kathryn G. ("Kitty") Messner, who was the head of a smaller company called Julian Messner. Messner immediately decided to publish the book. She asked Nevler to help make the book ready for publication.
A Bestselling Book
In the summer of 1956, the Metalious family moved into a new house. A plan was started to promote the book, which came out on September 24, 1956. While some critics didn't like it, Peyton Place stayed on The New York Times bestseller list for over a year. It became popular all around the world.
The town of Peyton Place in the book was a mix of several real towns in New Hampshire. These included Gilmanton, where Grace lived, and Laconia.
Peyton Place on Screen
Hollywood quickly made a movie based on the book. A year after the book was published, the movie Peyton Place became a huge success. The movie's first showing was in Laconia, New Hampshire. A TV show also started airing after Grace Metalious passed away. This show, on ABC-TV from 1964 to 1969, was also very popular.
Grace Metalious's publisher called her "Pandora in Blue Jeans." This meant she opened up controversial topics. She once said about her critics, "If I'm a bad writer, then a lot of people have bad taste." She also said that talking about adults without talking about their relationships was like talking about a window without glass.
Other Books by Grace Metalious
Grace Metalious wrote other books that sold well, but not as much as Peyton Place. These included Return to Peyton Place (1959), The Tight White Collar (1961), and No Adam in Eden (1963).
Grace Metalious's Later Years
Grace Metalious became ill and passed away on February 25, 1964, when she was 39 years old. She is buried in Smith Meeting House Cemetery in Gilmanton.
Her Lasting Impact
After Grace Metalious died, Peyton Place continued to inspire other stories. Don Tracy wrote nine more novels set in Peyton Place, using the name Roger Fuller. These included Evils of Peyton Place (1969) and Temptations of Peyton Place (1970).
In 1968, songwriter Tom T. Hall wrote a song called "Harper Valley PTA". In the song, he compared his fictional town of Harper Valley, which also had hidden scandals, to Peyton Place. This song became a number one hit for Jeannie C. Riley.
In 2005, author Barbara Delinsky wrote a novel called Looking for Peyton Place. This book was about how Grace Metalious's book affected a small New Hampshire town. The people there thought Peyton Place was about their community.
In 2006, it was announced that actress Sandra Bullock might star in a movie about Grace Metalious's life. However, the film was never made.
In 2007, the Manchester Historic Association and the University of New Hampshire at Manchester honored Grace Metalious. They looked closely at her life and her most famous book. This event included talks, readings of her work, and showings of the 1957 movie. It was the first time the area publicly recognized its famous writer.
See also
In Spanish: Grace Metalious para niños
- Illegitimacy in fiction
