The Wind in the Willows
Royalties from the sale of his books allowed Grahame to resign from the bank, and the family settled in Cookham Dene, where Grahame had spent his childhood. Although he wrote little in this period, Grahame told his son stories that gave him the idea for his great novel The Wind in the Willows. The book was published in 1908, and, after a slow beginning, proved immensely popular; it has remained so down to the present day. Grahame wrote little after the book’s release, withdrawing further into solitude in the countryside. His quiet way of life was shattered in 1920 by his son’s death. To cope with the loss, Grahame and Elspeth spent years traveling through Europe before returning to England in 1924. Kenneth Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire, on July 6, 1932, and is buried in Holywell Churchyard in Oxford.