Grace Metalious

Grace Metalious (born September 8, 1924 in Manchester , New Hampshire as Marie Grace de Repentigny , † February 25, 1964 in Gilmanton , New Hampshire) was an American writer .

Her first work The People of Peyton Place (original title Peyton Place ) from 1956, one of the most commercially successful novels of all, is best known . At the time of publication, the book was controversial for its treatment of taboo subjects such as premarital or extramarital intercourse , addictive sexual abuse, and abortion , and was published in libraries only to adults.

Life

Early years

Marie Grace de Repentigny came from a French-Canadian and Catholic family who lived in a neglected area of ​​the industrial city of Manchester. In New England , which was dominated by Protestants , she was therefore at the bottom of society. The feeling of social stigma increased when the father left his wife and three daughters. Grace was eleven then. Already in her childhood she began to write stories based on the experiences of the character of the detective Nancy Drew from the youth novels.

In high school , Grace de Repentigny met George Metalious and married him in 1943 against her family's opposition. After giving birth to their first child, she and her husband moved to Durham , where he attended the University of New Hampshire . Metalious also lived in modest circumstances with her new family. To find distraction after nearly dying giving birth to her third child, she began work on her first novel. She was so focused on writing that neighbors accused her of neglecting her home and children. Upon graduation, her husband was offered a position as school principal and the family moved to the small community of Gilmanton.

Success with Peyton Place

In Gilmanton, Metalious finished work on The People of Peyton Place . The title refers to a fictional small town in New England, in which the action is set and behind whose bourgeois facade hypocrisy, corruption, adultery and abuse can be found. The author used a variety of familiar people and events as a model, but most of all an event from a few years ago that shocked people in New England: the murder of a fourteen-year-old by her father after he had sexually abused her. In literary terms, Metalious was inspired by the hit novel Kings Row (1940) by Henry Bellamann , who had written in a similar way about the double standards of a small American town.

The New York publisher Julian Messner agreed to publish the novel. The People of Peyton Place appeared in the spring of 1956 and, despite (or because of) the scandal it sparked due to the frank treatment of certain subjects, became an almost unprecedented bestseller within a few months. Twenty million hardcover and twelve million paperback editions were sold. The novel was also printed in numerous editions in German-speaking countries. The film adaptation Embers under the Ashes by director Mark Robson came to cinemas in 1957. The more offensive motifs in the book were rewritten in the Hollywood version.

In no time, Metalious became a wealthy woman who could afford to move into a newly renovated house in Gilmanton. However, she was also exposed to hostility, not least from local residents, many of whom claimed the author had brought insults and shame on her, and some of whom threatened libel lawsuits . Metalious became a popular target for attacks by conservative clergy, politicians and newspapers. The demand came on them to ostracize them.

Growing problems and death

The attacks did not remain without effects on Metalious. She became an alcoholic and got involved in affairs. Their marriage fell apart when her husband's contract of employment was not renewed (probably because of the novel) and he accepted a position in Massachusetts . She married a Gilmanton disk jockey , but the marriage did not last long. She was even sued by her own mother. Although royalty income was high, she had to go into debt. The health problems due to their alcohol consumption increased.

Your publisher urged Metalious to deliver a sequel to the novel. She wrote one month Return to Peyton Place ( Return to Peyton Place , 1959), but the manuscript was found to be so bad that it is the publisher of the ghost writer Warren Miller was completely revised. Nevertheless, the novel was not the success of Peyton Place tie, just as two more novels Metalious, The narrow white collar ( The Tight White Collar , 1960) and No Adam in Eden (1963), in which the now familiar issues were negotiated in other New England locations.

Metalious reconciled with her first husband, remarried him in 1960, and separated from him again in 1963. George Metalious described the dire consequences the publication of the novel Peyton Place had for his wife, later in the book Girl from Peyton Place. A Biography of Grace Metalious (1965). Grace Metalious died in February 1964 at the age of 39 as a result of various complications from her alcoholism, including cirrhosis of the liver .

Works

Novels

• Peyton Place. Messner, New York 1956.
  • German language edition: The people of Peyton Place. Novel. Translated by Ursula von Wiese. Rowohlt, Hamburg 1958.
• Return to Peyton Place. Messner, New York 1959 (written by Warren Miller).
  • German language edition: Return to Peyton Place. Translated by Werner von Grünau. Kindler, Munich 1960.
• Tight white collar. Messner, New York 1960.
  • German-language edition: The tight white collar. Translated by Ursula von Wiese. Kindler, Munich 1961.
• No Adam in Eden. Trident Press, New York 1963.

Film and TV

• Embers under the ashes. Original title: Peyton Place. USA 1957. Director: Mark Robson . Script: John Michael Hayes based on the novel by Grace Metalious.
• Return to Peyton Place. Original title: Return to Peyton Place. USA 1961. Director: José Ferrer . Screenplay: Ronald Alexander based on the novel by Grace Metalious.
• Peyton Place. TV series in 514 episodes. USA 1964-1969.
• Murder in Peyton Place. TV film based on the series of the same name and the novel by Grace Metalious. USA 1977. Director: Bruce Kessler.

literature

• George Metalious, June O'Shea: Girl from Peyton Place. A Biography of Grace Metalious. Dell, New York 1965.
• Robin Lent: Metalious, Grace (1924-1964). In: Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast (Eds.): St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. St. James Press, Detroit 2000, Vol. 3, pp. 346-357.
• Emily Toth: Inside Peyton Place. The Life of Grace Metalious. Doubleday, New York 1981, ISBN 0-38515-950-1 .
• Lee server. Metalious, Grace (Marie Grace De Repentiguy) (1924-1964). In: Encyclopedia of Pulp Writers. Facts on File, New York 2002, ISBN 0-81604-577-1 , pp. 191-192.

Web links

• Literature by and about Grace Metalious in the catalog of the German National Library
• Grace Metalious in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Grace Metalious. In: FemBio. Women's biography research (with references and citations).