JEROME

On 21st June 1888, Jerome married Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris (Ettie), nine days after she divorced her first husband. She had a daughter from her previous, five-year marriage nicknamed Elsie (her actual name was also Georgina). The honeymoon took place on the Thames in a little boat, a fact that was to have a significant influence on his most important work, Three Men in a Boat. As soon as the couple returned from their honeymoon he started work on the book. In the novel, his wife was replaced by his longtime friends George Wingrave (George) and Carl Hentschel (Harris). This allowed him to create comic (and non-sentimental) situations which were nonetheless intertwined with the history of the Thames region. The book, published in 1889, became an instant success and has never been out of print. Its popularity was such that the number of registered Thames boats went up fifty percent in the year following its publication, and it contributed significantly to the Thames becoming a tourist attraction.