Chapter 1 Summary

The Wide Window opens with the three Baudelaire children standing on Damocles Dock, about to launch on their newest adventure. They are on their way to meet their newest guardian, Aunt Josephine, who will care for them after the death of their previous guardian, Uncle Monty. Mr. Poe travels to Damocles Dock with the children and begins to tell them more about their new guardian.

He reveals that Aunt Josephine has some peculiar fears, especially regarding Lake Lachrymose and has recently lost her husband. She is not really their aunt, but their second cousin's sister-in-law. Mr. Poe also gives the children a bag of peppermints as a special treat. Even though he has known Violet, Klaus and Sunny since they were born, he never has remembered that the Baudelaires are allergic to peppermints, further illustrating his previous history of clueless behavior.

Violet's allergy...