Marlow

Thames town in Buckinghamshire. In Three Men in a Boat the friends sleep at the Crown, Montmorency meets his match in a tom cat, and the party marches down the High Street with a procession of delivery boys.

At a glance

Source	Author	Role	In one line
Three Men in a Boat	Jerome K. Jerome	setting	Overnight at the Crown; Montmorency’s run-in with a huge tom cat and the shopping procession down the High Street.

Three Men in a Boat — Jerome K. Jerome (1889)

Source: Exploration of Three Men in a Boat · Three Men in a Boat · Original · Readwise highlight

It is a bustling, lively little town; not very picturesque on the whole, it is true, but there are many quaint nooks and corners to be found in it

• Role: setting
• In the book: The friends spend the night at the Crown. Next morning in the High Street Montmorency charges a huge tom cat, which calmly stares him down, and the party’s shopping turns into a parade of delivery boys following them to the boat, before they fend off steam-launches on the way upriver.
• Why it matters: Marlow hosts two of the book’s comic set pieces; the ‘bustling, lively little town’ gives them a crowd to play to.