 The residents of Peyton Place, Mass., are not happy when its most famous resident, Alison Mackenzie, writes a "shocking" novel detailing the sinful secrets of the town. Most outraged is malicious Roberta Carter, who wants the book banned from the school library. Roberta s other mission is to destroy her son Ted s marriage to his Italian bride. Theirs, however, isn t the only marriage in trouble: Alison s book is causing a rift between her mother and stepfather, who is also the school principal and one of the book s few defendants.