A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning

Everyone knew that this other child existed: books on how to choose a wet nurse actually advised parents to verify the health of a candidate by examining her newborn. A mother without a healthy infant had no credentials; her milk was automatically suspect. It was rare to hire a wet nurse whose baby had died. Her baby was supposed to die after she w

But here in this minibus, such small talk as the siblings were able to muster did them absolutely no good; none of them could find any way to connect with the others. In ten years, the three of them hadn’t been gathered in the same place for more than an hour or two during Eid, certainly not long enough for each to learn where life had brought the

Horbury, the irritating influence of the Head's conversation and sherry apart, was by no means a bad fellow. He was for the moment savagely cruel, but then, most men are apt to be savagely cruel when they suffer from an inflamed liver and offensive superiors, more especially when there is an inferior, warranted defenceless, in their power.

Assistant: No, no – we don’t have Rarnaby Budge by Charles Dikkens with two ‘k’s, the well-known Dutch author, and perhaps to save time I should add right away that we don’t have Carnaby Fudge by Darles Tikkens, or Stickwick Stapers by Miles Pikkens with four ‘M’s and a silent ‘Q’; why don’t you try the chemist? Mr Pest: I did. They sent me here.