# In-universe, how long do the Series of Unfortunate Events take?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-universe-how-long-do-the-series-of-unfortunate-events-take/840517>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 19, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-universe-how-long-do-the-series-of-unfortunate-events-take/840517 "2019-09-19T18:49:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-universe-how-long-do-the-series-of-unfortunate-events-take/840517/1 "2019-09-19T18:49:21Z")

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None of the back-story: from the Baudelaires finding out they’re orphans up to … let’s say when they arrive on the island in _The End_, what sort of time frame are we talking about? Weeks? Months? Certainly not years\*, I presume, since Sunny is still a baby.

- I’ve watched the excellent Netflix series, but I only made it about 1/3 of the way through the books. My understanding is that while there are differences between the last episode of the series and the last book, they do both include a one-year time skip. So, let’s leave that aside.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-universe-how-long-do-the-series-of-unfortunate-events-take/840517/2 "2019-09-19T19:18:00Z")

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I’m sorry for not being more clear: I’m asking if there is any indication in the text of how long the complete story takes to occur.

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**Author:** ![Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Ambrosio\_Spinola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambrosio_Spinola)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-universe-how-long-do-the-series-of-unfortunate-events-take/840517/3 "2019-09-19T19:33:13Z")

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> [@KneadToKnow](#):
>
> I’m sorry for not being more clear: I’m asking if there is any indication in the text of how long the complete story takes to occur.

Klaus is twelve at the beginning of the series and turns thirteen in _Vile Village_. Violet starts at fourteen, and has her fifteenth birthday in _Grim Grotto_. I believe they’re each stated to have had an additional birthday at the end of _The End_ but I can’t remember for sure.