That's All She Wrote Trivia Quiz

Answer: Automobile accident

Margaret Mitchell spent ten years writing "Gone with the Wind" from 1926-1936. A very private person, Ms. Mitchell might never have let the book be published had her vanity not intervened. Mitchell submitted "Gone With The Wind" for publication only after a friend had called her "frivolous" and incapable of writing a novel. When the book was published the response was overwhelming, selling a phenomenal million copies within its first six months. The 1939 Academy Award winning movie made the book even more popular; propelling the book to sales of over thirty million copies worldwide. "Gone with the Wind" is a work of fiction that touched on Mitchell's love of erotica and reflected her Southern sentiments about such topics as race relations. So pervasive was the influence of the novel that people came to believe Mitchell's fantasy represented the reality of life in post Civil War American South.

"Gone with the Wind" earned Ms. Mitchell the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. However, she never wrote another novel. During World War II, Mitchell was a volunteer with the American Red Cross and personally wrote hundreds of letters to serviceman and their families as a morale gesture. In 1949, while crossing Atlanta's Georgia Street, on her way to view a movie with her husband, Ms. Mitchell was struck by a drunk driver and died five days later from her injuries.

Answer: Save Me The Waltz

Zelda Sayre was born in 1900 in Montgomery Alabama. A child of privilege, Zelda was a southern belle and debutante known for her grace and beauty. At a country club dance, she met an older writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (he was four years older). Fitzgerald was enticed by the beautiful Zelda, and the two were married shortly after Fitzgerald published his first novel "The Beautiful and the Damned" in 1920. The now famous couple became icons of the 1920s and celebrities. The couple's tempestuous and often fractious marriage served as the background for much of Scott's later work including "The Great Gatsby" and "Tender is the Night".

As a woman of important social status, Zelda was asked to offer her opinions as well. She started writing magazine articles including the well received New York Times piece "Eulogy on the Flapper." Zelda battled depression and bipolar disorder as Scott battled alcoholism. In 1930, Zelda was hospitalized and for therapy turned to writing a novel. Her work was published as "Save Me The Waltz" as the story of a southern belle who tries not to lose her self identity when her husband becomes a famous artist. The story was blatantly patterned after Zelda and Scott's own life. Scott himself hated the book and was openly critical of his wife, claiming that much of the story was plagiarized from his effort that became "Tender is the Night". Whether caused by Scott's influence or not, the book was critically savaged; and Zelda never published another work.

Zelda Fitzgerald spent much of the 1930s estranged from her husband and in and out of mental hospitals. Scott became more morose and turned to alcohol as his writing career plummeted. Scott died in 1940 while Zelda died in 1948. Oddly, only after her death did scholars and critics reevaluate "Save Me the Waltz", examining the influence Zelda had on Scott, concluding that on its own the novel was worthy literature.

Answer: Wuthering Heights

Emily Bronte was the middle sister of the amazing trio of 19th Century authors that included older sister Charlotte and younger sister Anne. Emily Bronte was born in 1820 and died at the age of thirty having published only one novel, the smoldering tale of Victorian Age sexuality and violence "Wuthering Heights". Emily Bronte herself was a reclusive and private person, about whom little is known. She was weak in physical health but apparently had a prodigious intellect and mind. In 1842 Charlotte and Emily studied together in Belgium hoping to learn French well enough to open their own school. Emily self taught herself German and along with her two sisters published a collective work of poetry. Her death at age thirty was attributed to consumption.

"Wuthering Heights" remains a work of stunning passion that shocked the early Victorian sensibilities with its honest sexuality and stark violence. Charlotte Bronte is famous for writing "Jane Eyre" and "Villette" amongst other works; while youngest sister Anne was the author of the less known but acclaimed novels "Agnes Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall". Anne died shortly before Emily at the age of 29.

Answer: False

Racing officials of the UK did not license females as horse racing jockeys until 1972, over 95 years after Anne Sewell published her classic novel "Black Beauty". The distinction of being the UK's first female jockey belongs to Meriel Patricia Tufnell. Diane Crump was the first female jockey to race in US in 1969; while the first license had been granted the previous year to Penny Ann Early. Early was set to race at Churchill Downs in November of 1968, but male jockeys threatened a boycott of racing if Early was given a mount. Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone won the first Triple Crown race in 1993 when she rode Colonial Affair to victory in the Belmont Stakes.

"Black Beauty" was the only novel published by Anna Sewell. The story is simple; an autobiography of sorts, told in the first person about the life of the horse, Black Beauty. Ms. Sewell wrote the book as a plea for improvement in the treatment of horses in specific and animals in general. The book has sold over fifty million copies and is one enjoyed equally by children and adults. Ms. Sewell spent most of her life either travelling by horse or with the use of crutches due to childhood injuries. Anne never married. She died in 1878, only five months after her book was published, barely being able to appreciate the success and impact of her novel.

Answer: Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was a prolific writer of poetry and short stories. Her first published works came at the age of eight in her hometown of Boston Massachusetts. As a college student at Smith College, Plath started to gain notoriety for her confessional style of poetry. In 1956, she married fellow poet Ted Hughes and together they had two children. Through all of this, Plath had a life-long history of depression and mental illness. Plath was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy and hospitalized on several occasions including a nearly successful suicide attempt in 1953. Plath's only novel was titled "The Bell Jar" and was published under the pseudonym Victoria Lewis in 1961. The book while fictionalized was based on Plath's college experiences and her battles with depression. The title refers to Plath's synthesis of her own experiences into a work that is as if seen through the slightly distorted prism of a bell jar.

Sylvia Plath succumbed to her mental demons and committed suicide in her own home by placing her head into a gas oven on February 11, 1963. Plath was only 30 years old when she died and left behind a two year old daughter and a one year old son. The Plath legacy of mental depression was passed to her son Nicholas, who himself committed suicide at the age of 28. Today Sylvia Plath is considered one of the most influential mid-century American female authors and "The Bell Jar" one of the classics of the modern roman à clef novel style.

Answer: The God of Small Things

Arunhati Roy is a political activist and screenwriter from the rural northeastern Indian province of Meghalaya. Roy was the daughter of unusual parents. Her father was a Hindu tea trader and her mother part of the small Syrian Christian minority that existed in Kerala India. Arunhita's mother, Mary Roy, is a well-known Indian educator and feminist activist. Roy began her writing career as a screenwriter for Indian movies and television and as a critic. In 1997, she published her only novel "The God of Small Things". The book tells the story of twins in rural Northern India and how the changing social and political climate of modern India affected their lives. The book is based in part on the circumstances of Ms. Roy and her families' experiences. "The God of Small Things" was an instant best seller and received high praise from critics. Inside India, in particular the Keralan communities that are depicted in the book, the depressing and sexually graphic nature of the book generated substantial criticism.

The Man Booker Award for Fiction is an award open only to citizens of the British Commonwealth (Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe also). The Booker Award celebrates the best English language novel of the year. Arunhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" was awarded the Man Booker for 1997. Roy was the first Indian citizen to win the award. V.S. Naipaul, though of Indian descent, was a British citizen when his novella "In a Free State" won the Man Booker in 1972. Since Ms. Roy's award, both Kiran Desai ("The Inheritance of Loss") in 2006 and Aravind Adiga ("The White Tiger") in 2008 have won the award.

Answer: Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank" is one of the most well-known books about the plight of European Jews during the Holocaust. The book is the raw musings of a 13 year old girl written while Frank, her mother, father and elder sister hid from the Nazis in a secret apartment in Amsterdam. The diary details the normal concerns of a young girl entering her teen years, juxtaposed with the unbearable horror of life in German-occupied Holland during the war. The diary ends abruptly on August 1, 1944. On this day, Anne's family and another Jewish family sharing their space were betrayed and captured by the Nazis. Anne Frank was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she died of typhus. Tragically, this was only days before the camp was liberated by Allied forces in April 1945.

Frank's diary was kept safe by Miep Gies, a family friend of the Franks and part of the network that helped keep the Franks hidden for as long as they were able. Otto Frank, Anne's father, survived the war (his other daughter and wife also died in concentration camps) and retrieved the diary from Ms. Gies in 1945. The diary was published in Dutch in 1947 and translated into English and other languages in 1952. Over time, the powerful and thoughtful words of this young girl became an international symbol of the horrors of the Nazi regime and a voice of the victims of hatred in all aspects.

Answer: Autobiography

There is great debate over both the origin and classification of the Fifteenth century work called "The Book of Margery Kempe". There is historical evidence that a woman named Margery Burnham Kempe lived in the Norfolk area of modern England and was born around 1375. Margery never learned to read or write. During the 1410s, Margery took several pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to holy sites in England and throughout Europe. Margery dictated an account of her journeys to local scribes completing her tale in 1438. The scribes copied the "book" into an English language manuscript. The manuscript was not published widely; but, was referenced and noted by early 16th century scholars. Miraculously, a complete copy of "The Book of Margery Kempe" was discovered by noted medieval scholar Hope Emily Allen in a private collection in Lancashire, England. Many scholars credit "The Book of Margery Kempe" as the first autobiography written in English; while others dismiss the book as of dubious provenance.

"The Book of Margery Kempe" described Margery's life as told in third person, where she refers to herself as "the creature". Margery's description of the life of an early 15th century Englishwoman is considered one of the most detailed accounts available. In the book, Kempe not only discusses the physical travels she undertakes, but also describes the spiritual and mystical journeys she endures in her search to be accepted by God. For her devotion, Kempe was venerated as a Saint by the Church of England and US Episcopal Church.

Answer: The Help

Each of the books referenced is a popular novel written by Southern US women; Kathryn Stockett is the author of "The Help". The novel was rejected by numerous publishers before being published in 2008. The success of the book was staggering, selling over ten million copies, across the globe. "The Help", tells the story of group women, most notably a young white writer, living in Jackson Mississippi in the early 1960s. The story narrates the experiences of several affluent white families and the parallel experiences of the African-American women who serve as their domestics. "The Help" was made into a motion picture in 2011 and garnered four Academy Award nominations.

Kathryn Stockett's life mirrors to a large degree the story presented in the book. Her alter ego, a young writer named Eugenia Phelan, graduates college and returns home. Eugenia (nicknamed Skeeter) writes a semi-fictional novel about the experiences of African-American domestics in her (and Stockett's) hometown of Jackson. Stockett herself graduated from the University of Alabama and lived in New York for a decade working in marketing and magazine publishing.

Answer: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Englishwoman Susanna Clarke's first novel was the 2004 best seller "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. The book is an alternative fantasy novel, set in 19th Century England. In "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" two magic users are drawn together to help Britain prevail in the war against Napoleon's France. The book is written in a style reminiscent of Victorian Era authors and includes the class and social commentary so common of books from that period. Clarke's effort took her over ten years to write. When published, the book, despite being over 800 pages, was an instant best seller and was named Time Magazine's Best Novel of the Year. In addition to the prestigious Hugo Award, given annually to the best science fiction/fantasy book, Clarke was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature.

Each of the other choices are also Hugo Award winners penned by female authors. Ursula K Le Guin was the first woman to win not one, but two, Hugos for 1970's "The Left Hand of Darkness" and 1975's "The Dispossessed". Kate Wilhelm won the 1978 Hugo for her fine novel that offered early warning on the dangers of cloning and the loss of individualism, "Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang". "Among Others" is the 2012 Hugo Winner from Welsh author Jo Walton.