`Whispers through the Willows" charts the life of the creator of Mr. Toad, Ratty, Badger, Mole and a host of other best loved characters. Yet although today we remember Kenneth Grahame for presenting us with these endearing creatures, when Wind in the Willows was first offered to a world that looked to Grahame for nostalgic tales of childhood whimsy, the reception was frosty. On the surface, Grahame"s career was a spectacular success, rising in the City of London to become Secretary of the Bank of England, and making himself into a best-selling author in his spare time. Underneath this was to be found a diffident man of no great ambition, who was at his happiest frittering away his life in boats or traveling. The contrasts in his life were to lead him to an attempt to retire from all responsibility, bringing in its wake tragedy.