This controversial novel was originally published in America in the late 1950s, a time of pervasive artistic and moral conservatism. The book's frank and unapologetic look at abortion, sexuality and small town (im)morality was considered shocking, scandalous, and ultimately notorious, although today its language and subject matter would probably be considered relatively tame. As a large cast of vividly defined characters plays out a complex network of stories, the novel takes an unflinching, if sometimes overwhelming, look at themes relating to the relationship between truth and illusion, femaleness, frank sexuality, and religious conflict.

Peyton Place is divided into three books. The first is set in 1937, just as the Depression is ending in America. The narrative focuses on the lives and relationships of two unlikely friends, the middle class Allison Mackenzie and the lower class Selena Cross. Both girls are outcasts from the rest of their classmates, Allison because she is the child of a single mother (Constance) and Selena because she comes from a poor, looked-down-upon part of town. In the first section, while simultaneously exploring lives lived by other inhabitants of the town, the narrative is anchored by explorations of the girls' relationships with their parents, both of which are challenging. Specifically, Allison's fantasies about her father (whom she believes to be a wonderful man) are painful for Constance to deal with, since Allison's father was in fact a married man whose relationship with Constance was emotionally clandestine and morally frowned upon. Selena, for her part, grows up (and struggles against) an environment of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her step-father. Both girls, by the end of Book one, vow that they will someday escape those lives.

Book two takes place two years later, and again has a narrative anchored by the experiences of Allison and Selena, while at the same time exploring parallel stories about other people in the town. The girls' experiences are more sexual in nature, and include Selena, made pregnant by her abusive step-father, having an abortion. Meanwhile, the sexual, emotional, spiritual, and moral awakenings of the two girls are counter-pointed by similar experiences in the life of Constance, who enters into a teasing and at times confrontational relationship with Tomas Makris, the new school principal. The latter part of Book two is taken up with a narrative of a series of tragic incidents that strike Peyton Place as a fire rages outside the boundaries of the town. Selena's mother commits suicide, Constance impulsively and brutally confronts Allison with the truth of her (Constance's) relationship with her father, and Allison's best friend is seriously injured in an accident at a carnival.

Book three takes place four years later. As World War II rages in Europe, the citizens of Peyton Place continue with their complicated, gossip-ridden lives. Against the background of small town judgment and comment, Constance and Makris have, by this point, entered into a happy and fulfilling marriage. Allison, partly as a resentful result of the marriage and partly because she's still angry with the way her mother told her the truth about her father, moves to New York and strives to establish a career as a professional writer. Meanwhile, Selena attempts to get on with creating a new life, her struggles deepening when her abusive step-father returns to her life and she is forced to kill him in self-defense. Her trial causes a sensation, and causes Allison (newly out of a relationship with a married man) to return to Peyton Place. Selena is ultimately freed when the doctor who performed her abortion reveals the truth of her abusive relationship with her step-father. Meanwhile, Allison resolves her pained relationship with her mother and with the town itself, coming to realize that Peyton Place, with all its flaws, has taught her how to live.