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Edition:	Palazzo Editions (Hardcover)
Author:	Kenneth Grahame
Published:	April 2008
Pages:	224
ISBN 10:	0955304636
New:	$294.99 (1)
Used:	$7.97 (14)
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The story is alternately slow moving and fast paced, focusing on four heavily anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England. The novel is notable for its mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie.

The book made Grahame's fortune, enabling him to retire from his hated (though respectable and well paid) bank job and move to the country. Grahame spent his time by the River Thames doing much as the animal characters in his book do; namely (in one of the most famous phrases from the book) 'simply messing about in boats'. The book was saved from obscurity by the then famous playwright, A. A. Milne, who loved the book and adapted it for stage in Toad of Toad Hall.

It can also be viewed as a commentary on class dynamics in British society. In general the 'river bankers' represented the upper classes and the 'wild wooders' represented the lower classes. More specifically the character of Toad represented the upper class; Rat and Badger represented the middle classes, with Badger leaning closer to upper class; and the character Mole represented the lower class, due to his earthy nature.

Book Summary

At the start of the book, it is spring, the weather is fine, and good-natured Mole goes outside to take the air. He ends up at the river, which he has never seen before. Here he meets Rat, who spends all his days in and around the river. Rat takes Mole for a ride in his rowing boat. They get along well and the two of them spend many more days on the river, with Rat teaching Mole the ways of the river.

Some time later, one summer day, Rat and Mole find themselves near Toad Hall and pay a visit to Toad. Toad is rich, jovial and friendly, but conceited, and tends to become obsessed about things, only to dismiss them later. Having given up boating, Toad's current craze is his horse-drawn caravan. In fact, he is about to go on a trip, and persuades Rat and Mole to join him. A few days later, a passing car scares their horse, causing the caravan to crash. This marks the end of Toad's craze for caravan travel, to be replaced with an obsession for cars.

Mole wants to meet Badger, who lives in the Wild Wood, but Rat knows that Badger does not appreciate visits. On a winter's day, Mole goes to the Wild Wood, to explore and hoping to meet Badger. Mole gets lost in the woods. Rat goes looking for Mole, and finds him, but it starts to snow and even Rat no longer knows the way home. By chance they arrive at Badger's home.

Badger welcomes Rat and Mole to his large home, and gives them food and dry clothes. Badger learns from Rat and Mole that Toad has crashed six cars and has been hospitalized three times, and has had to spend a fortune on fines. They decide they should do something to protect Toad from himself, since they are, after all, his friends.

Some months later, Badger visits Mole and Rat to do something about Toad's self-destructive obsession. The three of them go to visit Toad, and Badger tries talking him out of his behaviour, to no avail. They decide to put Toad under house arrest, with themselves as the guards, until Toad changes his mind. Feigning illness, Toad manages to escape, and steals a car. He is caught and sent to prison on a twenty year sentence.

Rat visits his old friend Otter and finds out that Otter's son is missing. Rat and Mole set out to find Otter's son. They receive help from the God Pan who leads them to the location of the missing child. Pan removes their memories of this meeting "lest the awful remembrance should remain and grow, and overshadow mirth and pleasure".

In prison, Toad gains the sympathy of the jailor's daughter, who helps him to escape. This involves disguising Toad as a washerwoman. Having escaped, Toad is without any possessions and pursued by the police, but he shakes off his pursuers with the help of the driver of a steam train.

Still disguised as a washerwoman, Toad comes across a horse-drawn boat. After lying about being a capable washerwoman to the owner of the boat, who offers him a lift in exchange for his laundry services, he gets into a fight with her, steals her horse and sells it to a traveller. He stops a passing car, which happens to be one he stole earlier. However, the owners don't recognize him in disguise, and give him a lift. Toad asks if he can drive, which of course quickly leads to an accident. He flees and by chance arrives at Rat's house.

Toad hears from Rat that Toad Hall has been taken over by weasels, stoats and ferrets, despite attempts to protect and recover it by Mole and Badger. Although upset at the loss of his house, Toad realizes what good friends he has, and how badly he has behaved. Badger, Rat, Mole and Toad enter Toad Hall via a secret entrance and drive away the intruders.

Toad makes up for his earlier wrongdoings by seeking out those he wronged and compensating them. The four friends live out their lives happily ever after.

References

Wikipedia