Kenneth Grahame was born in Scotland in 1859. His mother died when he was small and his father
was an alcoholic, so he and his siblings were moved to England, to live with
their grandparents. He spent a lot of time in a big old house near a river in
Berkshire, which gave him the inspiration for Wind in the Willows. He went to a school in Oxford and was a bright
pupil but his family were not that well off due to his father’s drinking. (His
father had been a lawyer).
He was not able to go
to Oxford University, due to a shortage of money.. but he was placed in a job
in the Bank of England. He worked his way up to a high position in the Bank,
and did some writing in his spare time.
However he was a rather odd man and somewhat reclusive. He left the Bank with a small pension..
He does not seem to have ever wished to marry but then in
1899 he married Elspeth Thomson... an eccentric young woman who shared his interest
in art and literature. However it seems
that she pressured him into marriage and left to himself he would have been happier
single.
The couple wrote to each other in very smothering “baby talk” which seems to signify an odd
relationship. They had one child
Alistair, whom they called “Mouse” and he suffered from health problems for
much of his life. He was also a difficult
rather spoiled child and when he went to University, he didn’t do well there
and tragically, he committed suicide…by lying down on a railway line.
Grahame had told stories to the young Alistair about life on
the river – which became the basis for Wind in the Willows. Mr Toad with his arrogant bumptious personality
was probably inspired by Alistair as a child, as he was naughty and difficult…
Grahame’s life was rather sad, but his major book
was a great success
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