Authors L-P: 'N' Trivia

1. Why didn't Father mend Peter's broken toy engine, as the children had hoped?

From Quiz They Were Not Railway Children to Begin With

Answer: Because some visitors called unexpectedly and he had to go away

The engine, a birthday present, had gone off with a bang while Peter and Phyllis were playing with it, only three days after his birthday. They were sure their Father would be able to mend it, as he had repaired lots of their other toys. But just as Father was examining the broken engine, there was a knock at the front door and the parlour maid announced two gentlemen wished to see Father. The children waited and waited while loud voices were heard from the library, and eventually they were told Father had been called away - on business. This was the beginning of their adventures.

From Quiz Robert Neill - Mist Over Pendle

Answer: Marjorie Whittaker

Roger Nowell (and the fictitious Margery) were related to Alexander Nowell who was the Dean of St Paul's and author of the catechism, part of which survives in the "Book of Common Prayer". Roger Nowell did not write well - some documents written by him have survived - but someone sat with him and wrote an account of the arrests of the witches. The real Marjorie was probably a dry-as-dust judge's clerk!

From Quiz The Ascendance Trilogy

Answer: Mott

Sage was running from the butcher when Mott (working for Bevin Conner) stuck out his leg to trip Sage. The butcher began kicking Sage when Bevin Conner told him to stop. Conner paid the butcher for the roast and then also purchased Sage from Mrs. Turbeldy's orphanage to be Conner's "servant".

From Quiz Patrick Ness - 'The Ask and the Answer'

Answer: Morpeth

The Mayor's horse is introduced right near the beginning, where Todd is given Angharrad. If you chose Juliet's Joy, then I can see your point, but Juliet's Joy wasn't his horse until Morpeth was killed by the Spackle weapons.

From Quiz "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes

Answer: Bess

"But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord's daughter," The ostler loves Bess. See question 6! Alfred Noyes was born on September 16, 1880 in Wolverhampton, England.

From Quiz The Time Traveler's Wife

Answer: Her shoes

Realizing that Clare may be frightened of a strange naked man appearing in her favorite hiding place, Henry stays hidden in the long grass. Unfortunately he gives himself away by humming along with her to "The Dick Van Dyke Show" theme and Clare, thinking that he's her brother Mark playing a trick on her, throws her shoes at him.

From Quiz Apathy and Other Small Victories

Answer: Saltshakers

In the beginning of the novel, Shane wakes up in his bed, covered in salt, with two police officers standing over him. These men, who simply walked into his place, simply needed to tell him that his dentist's assistant had been murdered in the night. Marlene Burton was a deaf dental assistant who Shane initially couldn't bear due to the way she simply seemed to ruin the English language, what with not being able to speak it without shouting it into his open mouth. Dr. Weinhardt, his dentist, would be a bit more tolerant, but the man was prone to crippling panic attacks, having had bus doors slam like an accordion on his head on six separate occasions. Shane figures that he'd be out of town at the time of the murder as well, but a woman named Gwen has been keeping him preoccupied. Although they never had much in common when they met (and they still don't at the present time), they hooked up nonetheless and spent a fair bit of time together. Regardless, things seemed to be going quite normal for Shane...up until he was hauled off to the station, having been accused of Marlene's murder.

From Quiz The Novels and Stories of R.K. Narayan

Answer: the death of Narayan's wife

R.K. Narayan (1906-2001) married Rajam Nageswara in 1933 when Narayan was 27 and Rajam was 15. It was not unusual for an older Indian man to marry a much-younger woman. Rajam died of typhoid only six years later, in 1939, and a grieving Narayan left the literary scene until the publication of 'The English Teacher' in 1945. 'The English Teacher' is the tale of a teacher whose young wife dies of typhoid as Narayan's wife had, and who has similar difficulty coping with his grief. The fictional widower is left with a young daughter to raise, as was Narayan; their daughter Hemavath, called "Hema", was only three years old when her mother died. Narayan did attend Maharajah's College and the University of Mysore, but he was never a teacher; in his professional life he worked as a journalist.

From Quiz Red Dwarf--Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers

Answer: Driving a (stolen) cab

We find Lister driving a stolen cab, in a futile attempt to earn the fare back to earth. Unfortunately, he finds Mimas so depressing that he blows his pay on booze every night.

From Quiz "Women of Brewster Place" Quiz

Answer: Basil

Mattie was enchanted by the summer smells of wild herbs and sugar cane, so she named her child Basil out of this sentimentality. Butch was her one-time lover's name, but she really didn't consider the baby his. Samuel was her father's name.

From Quiz Phyllis Nagy's "Trip's Cinch"

Answer: Having Trip check her pantyhose for runs

As Trip corrected Val during their reenactment, Lucy's leg was straight while she had Trip check her hose.

From Quiz Test Your Knowledge of "The Amulet"

Answer: Two pounds and ten shillings

They discover their old acquaintance caged in a pet shop near Tottenham Court Road and manage to pay the high price demanded with a little help from the Psammead itself. They are excited to meet the magic and grumpy creature again, but they promised at the end of the book "Five Children and It" never to ask for another wish, so how is the summer to hold any adventure? And how are they to get their heart's desire? Then the Psammead tells them of a magic charm it has spotted in a nearby antique shop.

From Quiz They Were Not Railway Children to Begin With

Answer: LOOK OUT AT THE STATION

The children used to wave their handkerchiefs to the nine-fifteen train to London every day and call "Give our love to Father!" The old gentleman used to wave back with his newspaper. This was the only acquaintance they had with him, but when Mother was ill they needed help to pay for the things the doctor had prescribed. They decided to ask him. The sheet saying LOOK OUT AT THE STATION was to get the gentleman's attention so that Phyllis could hand a letter to him when the train stopped at the station.

From Quiz Robert Neill - Mist Over Pendle

Answer: Roger Nowell and Nicholas Bannister

There were other Justices - such as Thomas Heber who was Roger Nowell's son-in-law. Roger Nowell and Nicholas Bannister were also members of the Quorum - justices set apart as knowing more of the law than the rest. The word is still used in constitutions to stipulate the minimum number of members of a committee required to make decisions.

From Quiz The Ascendance Trilogy

Answer: Tobias

Sage answered first, but incorrectly stated that the Queen's name was Corinne. Tobias gave the correct answer, King Eckbert and Queen Erin. Conner rewarded Tobias with a piece of bread. We discover later that Sage really knew the answer, but was hiding his true identity.

From Quiz Patrick Ness - 'The Ask and the Answer'

Answer: "I am the circle and the circle is me"

Todd learned quickly, his noise becoming more silent by the day. Unfortunately, Viola is upset that she cannot hear Todd anymore, when she cannot hear his noise and his honesty.

From Quiz "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes

Answer: "...a ghostly galleon..."

He uses alliteration later on to make it sound better. "The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding, Riding, riding, The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door." The poem's writer, Alfred Noyes, was the son of Alfred and Amelia Adams Noyes.

From Quiz The Time Traveler's Wife

Answer: Newberry Library

Clare had gone to the Newberry Library to look at a book for her art history research topic not knowing that it was where Henry worked. The only clue he had ever given her about where they meet was Chicago.

From Quiz Apathy and Other Small Victories

Answer: Ivan

Shane recalls sleeping underneath Mobo's apartment and waking up in the middle of the night to hear the laws of man and nature being broken. He notes their first meeting involving Ivan on a leash trying to dart onto the road and Mobo telling how he received his name from a Honduran shaman in Dallas. Meanwhile, Gwen offers Shane a job as an intern at an insurance agency (though they can't have contact during that time because Gwen fears it may hurt her job) and Marlene teaches Shane sign language whenever he visits the dentist's office. It's at this point in the story that the cops begin rattling Shane for information at the station, but he still knows he didn't do it.

From Quiz The Novels and Stories of R.K. Narayan

Answer: Swami and Friends

'Swami and Friends' was R.K. Narayan's first novel, and was published in 1935. He was paid £15 10d for the book. It was followed by 'The Bachelor of Arts' in 1937, and 'The Dark Room' in 1938. 'The Far Pavilions' is a British novel written by author M.M. Kaye (1908-2004); this epic story of British and Indian history and romance is over 1,000 pages long and a favourite of mine. Narayan had difficulty getting his first novel, 'Swami and Friends', published, unil a friend sent it to English novelist Graham Greene, who admired it greatly, and got it published for him. Greene also was responsible for the publication of his next two novels. After that, Narayan's fame was enough to ensure his publication without assistance.

From Quiz Red Dwarf--Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers

Answer: In a luggage locker at the spaceport

He rented a luggage locker to sleep in. His first night on Mimas he slept in the park, only to wake up completely naked with an old man licking his foot.

From Quiz "Women of Brewster Place" Quiz

Answer: She had to forfeit it when her son failed to show up for his trial.

A woman named Miss Eva had taken Mattie in, and when Miss Eva died, Mattie took over the mortgage, and eventually had it paid in full. Basil later got into trouble, and Mattie put up her house as bail. Unfortunately, Basil skipped town and Mattie had to give up her house.

From Quiz Phyllis Nagy's "Trip's Cinch"

Answer: Sicily

Val specifies, however, that she wasn't actually born in Sicily.

From Quiz Test Your Knowledge of "The Amulet"

Answer: Red

It is made of a red, smooth, softly shiny stone. But a shock is in store for the children when they get the Amulet home. The Psammead tells them what they have bought for seven shillings and sixpence from the antique shop is only half of the Amulet. Their disappointment turns to excitement when they learn that the half-Amulet has the power to take them into the past to search for the other half.

From Quiz They Were Not Railway Children to Begin With

Answer: Jim's second cousin's wife's brother

Yet another adventure at the station, and all because Bobbie wanted to get Peter's engine mended for a surprise! She was sure the 'engineers', who drove the train, would help her, because "everyone who has to do with railways is so good and kind." In those days engines had to be stoked with coal, and Bobbie, trying to get the attention of the fireman and the engine driver, climbed up onto the engine and fell into the coal heap just as the train was leaving the station. Her faith in the kindness of railway engineers was justified, however, and Jim the fireman(not to be confused with another character called Jim, who appears later in the book) and Bill the engine driver arranged for the toy engine to be made as good as new.

From Quiz Robert Neill - Mist Over Pendle

Answer: Elizabeth Sowtherns and Ann Whittle

Both women were over 80 and had been known as witches for about 50 years. The two families had an on-going feud which apparently started when a member of the Chattox family broke into the Malkin Tower (Demdike's home) and stole something of value to her family.

From Quiz The Ascendance Trilogy

Answer: Staring directly at the princess

Sage was specifically instructed not to stare directly at Princess Amarinda, but he noticed that there was dirt on her cheek, so he couldn't help staring at her face. Princess Amarinda was surprised that a servant had the audacity to stare, but was amused and flattered when Sage told her that the dirt did not detract from her beauty.

From Quiz Patrick Ness - 'The Ask and the Answer'

Answer: Saved Yer Life

The chapter is so called because that is the chapter that Davy 'saves his life' by shooting a spackle that is attacking him. The rest are from Chapter 1 ("The Old Mayor"), Chapter 40 ("Nothing Changes, Everything Changes") and Chapter 12 ("Betrayal").

From Quiz "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes

Answer: Only the author knows

Or not even him! It is not mentioned in the poem. At 21 years of age, Noyes published his first collection of poems, "The Loom Years".

From Quiz The Time Traveler's Wife

Answer: Library Boy

Although it is the first time they had ever officially met, the two men had seen each other around town before and Gomez tries to warn Clare to stay away from Henry as every woman he's ever been with falls apart.

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