The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events #11)

Speeding down the Stricken Stream, soaking wet and clutching each other and their toboggan for dear life, Violet, Klaus and Sunny find themselves suddenly in front of a submarine’s eye and on its deck. Knocking frantically to be let in, Violet gives the password “the world is quiet here,” a phrase that her mother used to sing to her when she was little. The door opens and the Baudelaires are rushed inside the submarine as it descends again underwater.

            As it turns out the submarine is part of VFD, and the good part that wants to help the children and stop Count Olaf and his dastardly deeds. The ship is run by Captain Widdershins, his stepdaughter Fiona, and Phil who once worked at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. While the crew of the Queequeg seems to be on their side, Captain Widdershins refuses to tell the Baudelaires anything, saying there will be time later. This is seems to be a running problem for the Baudelaires, anytime they meet someone who knows information they never are able to hear it.

            Captain Widdershins, his crew of two, and the Baudelaire children travel from the Stricken Stream and into the sea, following maps and tidal charts hoping to find an elusive sugar bowl that Count Olaf and all members of VFD seem to think holds all the answers, and the key to taking over the world. While studying the map, Klaus notices that one of the underwater research facilities of VFD was named after Aunt Josephine’s family, making him realize that maybe her crazy and irrational fears were based on things she actually did and saw while in the employment of VFD. Next to the research facility, Klaus notices a small oval with the initials G.G. that he believes to be the location of the sugar bowl.

            As it turns out, Fiona knows all about GG, or the Gorgonian Grotto that houses the deadliest mushroom and fungus spores in the world. No one has ever carried the spores back to shore, as the grotto is contained and acts like a natural quarantine, but Captain Widdershins insists on going into the grotto to look for the bowl, and even worse, insists that Sunny should go as she is the smallest and will be able to fit in any tiny holes or passage to look for the sugar bowl.

            Not wanting to be separated, because we all know how much worst things get when that happens, Violet and Klaus (along with Fiona) don air helmets as well to follow Sunny into the dark grotto. After getting through the grotto’s current, the four children find themselves in a room with no water. This kind of thing often happens in underwater caves and caverns, parts of it have air pockets allowing for those unfortunate enough to be forced to enter a chance to breath. Looking around the wet and dark room the children find all sorts of interesting items, but no sugar bowl. What they did find was the Medusoid Mycelium mushroom sprouting everywhere, trapping them in the underwater grotto.

            While trapped, waiting for the Medusoid Mycelium to wane so they can swim back to the submarine, the four children begin digging through all the items that had washed into the grotto. While digging around, they find papers, maps and decoders from VFD. One of the papers that Violet reads has to do with Fiona’s brother Ferdinand, who Violet realizes is actually the hook-handed man in Count Olaf’s employ. Violet attempts to keep the information to herself not wanting to alarm and distress Fiona. When the mushrooms wane enough for the four to swim back to the submarine, Violet tucks the paper clipping into her wetsuit to discuss with her siblings later. Unfortunately, while swimming back to the submarine, Sunny’s helmet becomes infested with mushroom spores that begin growing their poison in her helmet.

            Things continue to get worse for the Baudelaire children and Fiona when they reach the submarine. Not only is Sunny’s helmet infected, but also Phil and Captain Widdershins are no longer there, they seem to have disappeared without a trace. It is then that Fiona sees what is growing in Sunny’s helmet and insists that Sunny stay in the helmet as opening it would infect the rest of the submarine. Fiona takes her research and books on mushrooms into her private rooms to research a possible antidote while Violet and Klaus stay with their sister trying to reassure her of their love and that she will be okay. That does little good however, as Count Olaf’s giant octopus looking submarine traps the Queequeg and forces them aboard.

Once on Count Olaf’s submarine, called the Carmelita after the now adopted daughter of Olaf and Esme, the four children are thrown into the brig where Olaf sends one of his associates to torcher information out of them. As it happens, it is the hook-handed man who is sent, and when he sees his sister Fiona, Ferdinand agrees to help them, vowing to put his villainy and allegiance to Count Olaf in his past and to be on the good side of VFD. Fiona and Ferdinand distract Esme and Carmelita while the Baudelaires get back to the Queequeg to find Sunny’s cure. While looking through the books and notes from Klaus’ commonplace notebook they discover that the antidote was discovered by Uncle Monty’s house, horseradish!

While no horseradish is found in the submarine, the two eldest Baudelaires manage to find wasabi at Sunny’s direction, which they believe will work just as well. It does, they open the helmet and give Sunny a spoonful of wasabi before she falls asleep, exhausted from her ordeal. While Sunny sleeps, Violet and Klaus finish the last of the wasabi, making sure that any spores released into the air don’t infect them.

Thanks to Violet’s inventive skills, earlier in the novel she fixed the telegram. While Sunny napped, a telegram from Quigley Quagmire arrived requesting the Baudelaires meet him and the other volunteers at a secret location to be decoded in the poems below. After much research and debate Klaus decodes the message to meet Quigley at Briny Beach, the place where the Baudelaires first learned of their parents death.

To quote the author, here the tables turn again. While reading, Count Olaf storms aboard the Queequeg, with Fiona dressed his the uniform of the associates. She had flipped sides to join Olaf with her brother. Luckily, she still has at least some of her former thoughts and feelings, allowing the Baudelaire children to sneak past her and escape from the submarine while Count Olaf fights off another submarine ship that is attacking him.

Taking the submarine to Briny Beach was not as difficult as one might suspect. When the three reached the beach, Mr. Poe was their waiting, but Quigley’s note had said not to go with him, but to get in the taxi that would be waiting. Leaving Mr. Poe screaming after them on the beach, Violet opened to the door of the taxi to find a woman in the drivers seat. Her name was Kit Snicket.

I love this series so much, and I love how after ten novels all of the things no matter how small in the previous books are coming together.