The Hippopotamus

p>Ted Wallace is a sour, old, cantankerous beast, a womanising and whisky-sodden bounder of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too.br>br> Fired from his newspaper, months behind on his alimony payments and disgusted with a world that undervalues him, Ted seeks a few months' repose and free drink at Swafford Hall, the country mansion of his old friend Lord Logan.br>br> But strange things have been going on at Swafford. Miracles. Healings. Phenomena beyond the comprehension of a mud-caked hippopotamus like Ted.br>br> 'Clever...witty...not what it seems' i>The Times/i>br>br> 'My goodness what fruity language Fry uses! You can feel his enjoyment, and also the huge force of his desire to please you, as you read this' i>Daily Mail/i>/p> p>Ted Wallace is a sour, old, cantankerous beast, a womanising and whisky-sodden bounder of a failed poet and drama critic, but he has his faults too.br>br> Fired from his newspaper, months behind on his alimony payments and disgusted with a world that undervalues him, Ted seeks a few months' repose and free drink at Swafford Hall, the country mansion of his old friend Lord Logan.br>br> But strange things have been going on at Swafford. Miracles. Healings. Phenomena beyond the comprehension of a mud-caked hippopotamus like Ted.br>br> 'Clever...witty...not what it seems' i>The Times/i>br>br> 'My goodness what fruity language Fry uses! You can feel his enjoyment, and also the huge force of his desire to please you, as you read this' i>Daily Mail/i>/p>