Known to the other regulars at the Napier Tavern as Charles, the German author Uwe Johnson lived obscurely a few yards up the Marine Parade, Sheerness, for the last decade or so of his life.
There, with the Thames Estuary forming the backdrop of the view from his study, Johnson completed his novel series Anniversaries, which I have downloaded with very good intentions shortly after finishing this quite marvellous book. Alas, it joins a crowded virtual bookshelf.
I had never heard of Uwe Johnson; It was the Sheerness connection that sparked my interest. I know the Isle of Sheppey fairly well but Iām not a native - though I married one. And it so happens that an in-law owns a large terraced house only a few doors further down Marine Parade from Uweās gaff (the sea view is, indeed, outstanding).
While partly a biography of Johnson, this is a history of a place, and of a particular time, the 1970s, before the UK started to really fall apart. And Sheppey was one of the first to go. Dereliction gradually started from about 1960 when the Royal Navy abandoned the dockyard. But this is heresy: we all know, of course, that the ruin of the UK was the evil European Union. Wellā¦thatās all behind us nowā¦ but was yet to come in Uweās day.
The book is beautifully written, meticulously researched, and never patronises the island or its people. (Unlike most of the rest of Kentās citizens, who have either never even heard of the place, or who refer to the inhabitants as Swampies.)
I learned a lot, and came to like Uwe a lot too. The details of early aviation at Eastchurch were amazing. The place is only known now for the three large prisons sited there, unless you have a proper nose around.
The section about Marcel Duchamp at Herne Bay was a revelation too. āI am not dead; I am in Herne Bay,ā Duchamp wrote to a friend. And Uwe had to fend off many a visitor from his homeland who simply couldnāt fathom how heād ended up where he had, and needed to be reassured that he was not dead.
Well, of course, eventually his number came up, and rather unpleasantly, but youāll have to read the book yourself to discover those details. Its a fine book, Iād go so far as to say itās the second-best Isle of Sheppey book. First place is probably secure: Nicola Barkerās very weird, very brilliant Wide Open.
As for the Napier: thatās now flats.
