The Wide Window

The Wide Window is the third in the children's novel series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It was later released in paperback under the name The Wide Window; or, Disappearance! In The Wide Window, the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with their third guardian, Aunt Josephine, who lives on a house overlooking Lake Lachrymose.

Plot summary

The book begins with Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire sitting at Damocles Dock in the town of Lake Lachrymose, which lies next to the lake with the same name. Mr. Poe, the manager of their estate, arranges a taxi to drive the Baudelaires to the top of a high hill where their new home awaits. As the taxi pulls up to the hilltop, the orphans find themselves at a house at the edge of a cliff supported by wooden beams.

Inside, they find their new guardian waiting for them, Aunt Josephine Anwhistle. Although she is a kind woman, she is very peculiar in that she has practically every fear there could be. She is afraid of almost every possession in her own home. Within Aunt Josephine's house is a library filled only with grammar books and a large window (The Wide Window) at the far end of the room, which offers a spectacular view of Lake Lachrymose. It is here where Aunt Josephine recounts her tale of her last day on the shores of the lake with her husband, Ike Anwhistle, and how he met his end due to the carnivorous Lachrymose Leeches which have the ability to smell food on a human if he or she does not wait long enough before going into the water.