River Thames

The River Thames is both a physical divide and an unsettling spectacle in the passage where Sharon leads Mary Lamb / Amy Hide south through London. Seen from above as they approach the far shore, it dwarfs Mary and makes the crossing feel like entry into another part of the city and another stage of Sharon’s plans.

Setting and Appearance

As Sharon explains her fondness for occasional drinking, the buildings fall away and reveal a broad gap in the densely stacked city. Only a few arched streets cross the open stretch of air. From there, Mary Lamb / Amy Hide looks down at the turbid river, which appears alive: it boils and throws fragments of itself into the air while screaming birds wheel just above the surface.

Crossing to the Other Side

The river’s scale alarms Mary Lamb / Amy Hide, who says it is too big. Sharon answers by affirming her love of the river and invoking the phrase “Go quietly, sweet Thames.” She points towards the large structures on the far shore and explains that they are going to the other side. The route leads first to Sharon’s home, then to a pub; Mary wonders what the places ahead will be like and quickens her pace as she follows Sharon south.

Narrative Significance

The Thames turns Sharon’s ordinary itinerary into a threshold crossing. Its apparent turbulence and the birds’ agitated flight contrast with Sharon’s ease: what makes Mary Lamb / Amy Hide’s body hum and tempts her to run is, for Sharon, a familiar landscape and a way onward. The river therefore marks a divide in the city while exposing the difference between the two women’s responses to it.