Roland Camberton (1921–1965)

Searching through the lists of publications in the year 1951, I came upon this novel by Roland Camberton and discovered that it had been republished in 2010 by New London Editions an imprint of Five Leaves Publications. The publisher is a small company based in Nottingham, publishing 10-15 books per year with an interest in social history, politics, poetry, Nottingham, London and city scape. I could see why they picked up this out of print novel by Camberton because Rain on the Pavements is set in Hackney; London, it tells a story of life in the London borough between the world wars, of a young man interested in politics, who writes poetry and moves away from his social roots to better himself. A quick search on the internet led me to discover that Roland Camberton was a pseudonym for Henry Cohen, who wrote two novels and quietly disappeared from view after Rain on the Pavements was published.

It is a coming of age novel of the central protagonist David Hirsch who is brought up within a strict Jewish family in the East End of London. Between the wars this area near Whitechapel was home to a large Jewish community and I can imagine that much of the storyline is semi-autobiographical as we follow David through his school years, his studies of the Talmud and his place in the Jewish circle. David through friends and some family members, becomes interested in politics which leads him into the whole gamut of left wing societies, but nothing really sticks. He is more interested in philosophy and poetry and a scholarship takes him to a college, where in his senior years at school he can fully immerse himself in the arts, leaving his jewish roots someway behind him. The early part of the novel describing David's childhood is enlivened by the characters he meets. David himself seems a bit of a cipher, but Yunkel (6 years older than him) takes him on exploratory trips round London and we follow Yunkel's story as a teacher of the Talmud, who becomes a scholar, who can find a position at one of the top religious schools in Poland. The next big influence in David's life is Uncle Harry a more distant relation who owns nothing apart from a set of books and a bicycle; he pedals furiously around the libraries of London getting an education and finally gets a degree after many years of poverty. He writes a novel: titled Failure, that gets published, but does not sell. Then there is the slightly creepy Tony; until David finds a soul mate in Stanley and finds a friend who has similar interests and with whom Davids own character can blossom.

The early part of the novel is dependent on the characters around David for much of its interest, but Camberton does makes them interesting as we follow Davids rather gauche and childish behaviour at school. The novel seems to go through the gears as David's character develops, until he comes into his own, a well rounded young man, wrestling with the problem of whether he should join the International Brigade; fighting a losing battle against Franco's forces in Spain. The novel does suffer a little from too many side stories, it is as though Camberton has created these characters because he could not fit them all into David's character; they feel essential to the novel, but also like add-ons. In my opinion the book comes into its own when David becomes the central pivot for the story, which after all, is his story.

The novel is certainly a social history and a geographical romp around London, at a time when a boy and then a teenager like David could travel around, without too much danger. It captures this epoch where children were largely unaware of the dangers, even when David and Stanley in their late teens explore Soho, searching for the cafe culture, nothing untoward happens to them. They have heard that Soho is a dangerous place, but their nervous exploration and hesitant steps, keep them safe. David witnesses the Cable Street riot from the window of a building in neighbouring Aldgate, recognising older characters from his own social circle.

I can vouch for much of the feel of the East End of London, some of which still remained when I lived there in the 1970's. I lived in Whitechapel with a jewish family at a time when the jewish immigrants were just about clinging onto parts of the East End: the Bangladeshi's had made large inroads into the community at that time. This book is a worthwhile reprint; splendid with its original cover art by John Minton. It had a special interest for me, but I think that other readers might enjoy the atmosphere of a London, now lost, that Camberton creates and the dilemmas facing an intelligent young man who comes of age slightly against the odds. I rate this at 4 stars.… (más)

Having very recently read Scamp, the first novel by Roland Camberton, and filled by enthusiasm for that book, I got hold of this, his only one other book before giving up writing.

Rain On The Pavements, first published in 1951, was - like Scamp - also republished by Five Leaves (via their New London Editions imprint) in 2010, again complete with the book's original cover art by John Minton - a beautiful artwork that really compliments the contents and enhances the whole experience.

Roland Camberton, born Henry Cohen, came from a Jewish family in Hackney where he attended Hackney Downs School in the 1930s. He later anglicised his name to so his strictly religious family remained unaware that he was writing novels. Both Rain On The Pavements and Scamp, and based on Roland Camberton's life.

David Hirsch, the main character, is probably a self-portrait, and the book details his life growing up in a fairly orthodox Jewish family in Hackney throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Each chapter takes a portion of David's life from early childhood to gaining a scholarship to University. Each chapter introduces new characters who were, in the main, significant people in David's life, these include young uncles, school friends, teachers etc. and describes David's experiences around the East End, at school, and beyond into Soho. As with Scamp, a big part of the pleasure of this utterly enjoyable book, is the wealth of social history and detail. It all rings so true and is clearly based on personal experience. Little things, like for instance, David and a friend in Cable Street watching two of their bigger, braver school friends fighting with fascist black shirts, the book is full of this kind of detail.

Hackney is the constant throughout this wonderful book, its streets and characters providing the backdrop to many of David's experiences. As he matures, he is increasingly drawn towards the bohemian world of Soho, however throughout all his experiences what is clear is that he can never really escape from his home borough and all that it signifies.… (más)

Scamp is another of those classic London novels from the 1950s that evokes Julian Maclaren-Ross, Patrick Hamilton, Norman Collins, Samuel Selvon and so on. It makes a brilliant companion piece to Adrift in Soho by Colin Wilson.

The back streets of Soho and the West End are brought vividly to life and, whilst the plot is slightly inconsequential, that doesn't make the book any less enjoyable. Every page provides an opportunity to experience late 1940s bohemian London and, as I think we can all agree, that is a wonderful thing.

Julian Maclaren-Ross makes a few appearances as "Angus Sternforth Simms", who is usually to be found in The Corney Arms (a thinly disguised version of his home-from-home The Wheatsheaf pub). Indeed the sections of Scamp that take place in The Corney Arms could have come straight out of Paul Willetts's biography of Julian Maclaren-Ross "Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia".

Interestingly, and despite his appearance (or perhaps because of), Julian Maclaren-Ross was particularly scathing about this book in his review of it for Times Literary Supplement on 10 November 1950...

"The book is written from the standpoint of the "bum": that bearded and corduroyed figure who may be seen crouching over a half of bitter in the corner of a Bloomsbury "pub"; it is ostensibly concerned with the rise and fall of a short-lived literary review, but Mr. Camberton, who appears to be devoid of any narrative gift, makes this an excuse for dragging in disconnectedly and to little apparent purpose a series of thinly disguised local or literary celebrities."

Despite Julian Maclaren-Ross's negativity, the book won the 1951 Somerset Maugham Award (given to authors under the age of 35) and I can quite see why. The book's great strength is its evocation of late 1940's London and in particular the areas of Bloomsbury, Soho, Kings Cross, Fitzrovia, Fleet Street, and the multifarious and compelling bohemian characters that populate this world.

The book was out of print for many years until publishers Five Leaves, through their New London Editions imprint, republished it in 2010 (they've also republished two books by Alexander Baron which I have on my shelf and will be reading soon). I love books like this and am delighted that more of these titles are getting reprinted. There's a beauty and a purity in the shabby streets and seedy cafes and the lives lived on the margins. Not only that, but as the story went on the more quietly profound it became as Camberton muses on maturity and the loss of youth, and how being poor and bohemian loses its allure after a time.

Sadly Roland Camberton only wrote one other book before giving up writing, Rain On The Pavements, and that has also been republished by Five Leaves. Whilst about halfway through this book, and filled with enthusiasm for Roland Camberton, I got hold of a copy of Rain On The Pavements yesterday which I will read sometime soon. It's such a shame that there's only two books to read, still we should savour these two novels and be grateful to Five Leaves for bringing them back into print. Both novels have been reprinted complete with their original cover art by John Minton which are both beautiful artworks and really compliment the contents and enhance the reading experience.… (más)