All kinds of strange things crawl out,'' Metalious once said. David Watters, a University of New Hampshire English professor, cites a scene at the end of the book, when residents pass zoning laws to ban the shacks from downtown so the area will look good to tourists. They could use some of the money they drink up to install toilets and tanks and water. . . Maybe a good epidemic would solve everything. Perhaps the town would be better off without the characters who live in those places,''' says Seth Buswell, the town's newspaper editor.
Communities still argue at town meetings about the struggle to pay for schools and services.
As in the book, low-income families often are blamed for straining services by having kids but not paying enough in taxes. She received no royalties or TV rights. Because of its success, Metalious was able to buy her dream house in Gilmanton, where she wrote three other books. But her generosity was excessive. By in 1964, at age 39, she had drunk herself to death by cirrhosis of the liver and was in debt.