Having escaped Count Olaf's clutches for now, the three Baudelaire siblings, Violent, Klaus and Sunny, arrive on the shores of Lake Lachrymose to stay with their latest guardian, Aunt Josephine. Sadly, though kind and well-meaning, Aunt Josephine is terrified of absolutely everything: she will not heat her radiators, use the telephone or cook food, just in case those ordinary tasks prove fatal. Worse still, she gives Violet a doll called Pretty Penny and obsessively corrects the children's grammar. It is not long before local sailor Captain Sham, a thinly-disguised Count Olaf, gulls Aunt Josephine with the idea of a surprise for the children. Aunt Josephine suddenly goes missing that night, leaving a highly ungrammatical note, and the Baudelaire's must once again fight their way out of Count Olaf's wicked schemes. Finally, after sailing across the Lachrymose Lake in Hurricane Herman, a nasty moment in the Curdled Cave and an unpleasant encounter with the Lachrymose Leeches for Aunt Josephine, they unmask Captain Sham as Count Olaf. Olaf slips through their grasp once more but evilly promises to find them again, as he will in The Miserable Mill.
I can't even tell you how excited I was to finally read The Wide Window. As usually, every little detail is superb with the Lemony Snicket books. The illustrations are just too cute and this one also has the raw edges that give the book rather secretive look.
Apart from that we get another heart-breaking story. With each page you wish you could reach out and help the Beaudelaire children but unfortunately all we can to is read on. The Wide Window surprises with a few unpredictable plot twist. Even those parts you do see coming are told in such a charming way that you can't help but adore this little gem of a book.
After reading another wonderful book by Lemony Snicket I can't wait to get started with the next installment, The Miserable Mill!
Reading updates
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Started reading
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16 March, 2017:
Finished reading
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16 March, 2017:
Reviewed