Book 1, Part 7 Summary

Winter has arrived in Peyton Place, and the gossipy old men have moved into Tuttle's Grocery StoreThey're interrupted by the arrival of Norman Page who becomes the new subject for gossip as to whether Norman's father Oakleigh deserved the trouble he ended up with.

Norman encounters Allison, who fills his impressionable mind with frightening stories that suggest Hester is insane, a witch, or both. Norman hurries home, more scared of Hester than of going up to the Peyton place. Allison realizes she could write a scary story about Hester Goodale and goes home to try. She's not happy with her first effort and realizes she has to write about people she really knows, the start of her "career."

Hester Goodale, an elderly spinster, once had a suitor who was chased away by her father.

Evelyn Page quizzes her son Norman about...