Iain Sinclair goes in search of novelist Roland Camberton

London by night in the 1940s. The decaying back streets of Soho and the, then, sad but elegant squares of Bloomsbury provide the backdrop for a range of characters, making a living – or not making a living – in dubious way in this satirical novel. Ivan Ginsberg tries to escape his failure by setting up a literary magazine, Scamp. London author Iain Sinclair spent decades trying to trace the mysterious Roland Camberton, whose life was as strange as many of his characters.

Roland Camberton (Henry Cohen) was born in Manchester in 1921
and was educated in Hackney. After RAF service he worked in
various jobs. After his second novel, Rain on the Pavements he
vanished almost without trace, publishing nothing more.

London by night in the 1940s. The decaying back streets of Soho and the, then, sad but elegant squares of Bloomsbury provide the backdrop for a range of characters, making a living – or not making a living – in dubious way in this satirical novel. Ivan Ginsberg tries to escape his failure by setting up a literary magazine, Scamp. The book is introduced by Iain Sinclair who spent decades trying to trace the mysterious Roland Camberton, whose life was as strange as many of his characters.

Roland Camberton (Henry Cohen) was born in Manchester in 1921
and was educated in Hackney. After RAF service he worked in
various jobs. After his second novel, Rain on the Pavements he
vanished almost without trace, publishing nothing more.

Camberton's 2 novels Scamp and Rain on the Pavements have recently reissued by Five Leaves and will be for sale on the evening.

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