A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning

Story

Following the death of their parents, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are sent to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf. Olaf forces the children to perform odious chores for him and his theatre troupe. It soon becomes clear that the Count is more concerned with their family fortune than the orphans themselves…

Why we chose it

Surreal, gothic, comic adventures in which the Baudelaire children face one misfortune after another – for readers who like stories to be dark and strange.

Where it came from

Inspired by authors like Roald Dahl and Edward Gorey, American author Daniel Handler (writing as Lemony Snicket) wrote the series as an antidote to the unrealistic expectations set by “sappy” happy endings. Gothic references are found throughout the book; for example, the Baudelaire orphans are named after French poet Charles Baudelaire, famous for translating Edgar Allen Poe’s melancholy poems.

Where it went next

The Bad Beginning won numerous literary awards and was the first of a bestselling series of thirteen novels, selling over 60 million copies worldwide. In 2004, the first three books were adapted as a feature film, starring Jim Carrey, and more recently a Netflix series was made of all thirteen books.

Associated stories

As well as the thirteen books in A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket has written several other stories set in the same universe, including Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography and the prequel tetralogy All the Wrong Questions, based on his own childhood.