Reader Series: 'The Miserable Mill,' Lemony Snicket
This is the fourth post in a series leading up to the premiere of Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' on January 13, 2017. The series will cover each of the 13 books and 'Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.' Be warned: there are spoilers ahead. The Miserable Mill , compared to the rest of the series, seems a bit out of place. The children are taken to live and work at a logging mill. Aside from the clear child labor and general labor law violations that follow, it's not really clear why Mr. Poe brings the children here, allows them to work here, or is so incredibly oblivious to the obvious child abuse. Supposedly it has to do with a "fair deal," wherein the dubious Sir "protects" the children from Count Olaf as long as the siblings work there. This is the first book in the series in which Count Olaf pulled in some outside help. Dr. Orwell, an optician who specializes in hypnotism, works with Olaf to sabotage the ...