Content Warning: The novel and the guide reference alcoholism, sexual assault, incest, death by suicide, animal cruelty, abortion, and racism.

“Indian summer is like a woman. Ripe, hotly passionate, but fickle, she comes and goes as she pleases.”

This quotation opens the novel; it introduces the motif of changing seasons and the importance of the specificity of setting. The quotation also alludes to sexuality and female desire, foreshadowing that these will become important topics as the plot develops.

“‘Why do I try?’ she wondered. ‘What chance have any of these children to break out of the pattern in which they were born?’”

Miss Thornton, the eighth grade teacher, reflects on the children in her class and her desire to improve their prospects through education. At the same time, she is aware of the rigid social and economic stratifications that tend to predetermine a child’s future based on the family they are born into.

“The biggest houses on Chestnut Street are the emptiest in town.”

This quotation summarizes the gossip about the individuals who live on Chestnut Street, the most prestigious street in Peyton Place. Residents of this street include Dr. Swain, Leslie Harrington, and Seth Buswell; while these residents are wealthy and powerful, very few of them have children. By contrast, the poorer residents of the town tend to have children. This quotation introduces the idea that some of the wealthier characters lack integrity and morality, and also that the balance of power between different residents will shift as time passes.