In the novel, the town is named Switzer and the county Geiger County. The screenplay kept those names, but when the producer was scouting locations, Vevay in Switzerland County, Indiana was chosen because it looked so much like the fictional Switzer. Not only is Vevay a river town (on the Ohio), but it had no parking meters; Switzer in the 1930s wouldn't have had them either. In appreciation of Vevay's having the right look, and of the townspeople's hospitality to the location crew, the name of Vevay replaced Switzer in the script.
Mac is never given a first name or even initials in the book; he's always "Dr. McHenry" or simply "Mac."
The novel goes into more detail about the mental anguish of Lee Remick's character, Elizabeth, from being unable to have children (she had a hysterectomy), and the resulting strain on her marriage to Mac. When her maternal instinct is finally kindled by mothering Sooner, Elizabeth gives Mac the best night of sex he's ever had.
One detail that was not mentioned in the movie: the book says that Selma Goss, the clerk of court (played by Anne Francis), ran for re-election every three years. It should have been a simple matter for author Suzanne Clauser to verify that county officials in Indiana serve four-year terms. Minor, but distracting: like being unable to concentrate on a sermon because the minister has spinach stuck in his teeth.
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