Chapter One Summary

The novel opens with the Baudelaire children riding in a taxi with a woman they have just met. For the first time since their parents died, the children have returned to their hometown, and they marvel at how little has changed in the year they've been away. As they drive through the winding streets, Violet Baudelaire is reminded of many of the different caregivers that have held guardianship over her and her siblings, all to disastrous results. The mysterious woman driving the taxi, Kit Snicket, talks about the V.F.D. - the organization the Baudelaire children have been desperately seeking to uncover - who will be holding an important meeting in two day's time. Since the V.F.D. disbanded, there seem to be more enemies than ever: "There are countless wicked people in the world," Kat says (p. 8). When...