Literary giants with Isle of Wight connections including Karl Marx

However in this feature I am taking a look at just some of the literary giants of the past, who had connections to the Island.

Perhaps one of the most popular and well-known was J. B. Priestley, who lived in Billingham Manor, near Chillerton.

Priestley was a prolific author with works such as The Good Companions, An Inspector Calls, and Lost Empires, being but a few of his many published books and plays.

J. B. Priestley (Image: David White)

Christopher Isherwood (Image: David White)

During the Second World War he took to the radio,with a programme called Postscripts which proved very popular, being only second in popularity to Churchill's broadcasts.

Priestly had been married three times, his third wife being Jacquetta Hawkes, a well-known archaeologist of the period.

Later in his career he moved to the iconic Brook Hill House at Brook, which has now been turned into luxury flats.

Bonchurch Pond, a gift from Henry De Vere Stacpoole (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

Being one of the founding members of CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) he could sometimes be found with another well-known Island resident, the much broadcast historian A. J. P. Taylor - a leading figure in the campaign.

They would often meet at the Albion Hotel in Freshwater, Priestly drinking his favorite drink “A Dog's Nose” (hot stout, gin sugar and nutmeg), while discussing their next plans regarding their CND involvement.

Priestly eventually left the Island, going to live in Warwickshire (the reason being the many problems he encountered with the ferry travel - nothing new there I hear you say).

The property in Ventnor where Karl Marx lived for two winters (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

Yet another interesting author, who lived in Bonchurch, was Henry De Vere Stacpoole.

He lived on Bonchurch Shute, and perhaps his most famous work was the novel Blue Lagoon which was eventually made into a popular feature film.

It was said that you would often see him driving through the village in his vintage Rolls Royce.

One of Ventnor's many blue plaques (Image: Isle of Wight County Press)

The famous village pond was originally a gift to the village from Stacpoole, in memory of the death of his wife. He is buried at St Boniface Church.

Christopher Isherwood lodged at Freshwater Bay and perhaps his most famous work was The Berlin Stories which eventually inspired the film Cabaret.

It was said that if you passed by their lodgings of a Sunday you would hear Isherwood and the writer W. H. Auden singing hymns to the banging accompaniment of a very loud piano.

Also worth mentioning is Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, writer of such novels as Smoke, Fathers and Sons and countless other works. Living in various lodgings in Ventnor, he was always at odds with his landladies owing to his continual smoking.

Also in Ventnor was Karl Marx, who apparently spent his time in the town to improve his health. It is said Queen Victoria was not amused.

I have in past features mentioned some of the woman authors, so I have not elaborated on them in this feature, but worth a mention are Maxwell Gray who wrote under that name, her actual name being Mary Gleed Tuttiett, and one of her most outstanding books being The Silence of Dean Maitland.

Also worth a mention is John Oliver Hobbes, whose real name was Pearl Mary Teresa Richards, one of her most successful works being Some Emotions And A Moral - a sensation in its day.

Why did all these woman write under men's names you may well ask?

Perhaps it was that no publisher would accept a book written by a female author, or perhaps because the public would not read a book written by a woman. Either way, it was indicative of the period.

The Albion Hotel, prior to its recent refurb. Picture: Albion Hotel (Image: The Albion Hotel)