A Pictorial Guide to British Literature Quiz

Answer: David Copperfield

Published in 1850, the novel is considered to be semi-autobiographical, as it includes several episodes from Dickens's own life. Uriah Heep is the man who commits fraud, while masking his villainy by appearing subservient. He frequently describes himself as 'being 'umble'. Barkis is the man who marries Clara Peggotty, who was the servant to the Copperfield family and the mother figure to the young David.

The pictorial clue is of a policeman's helmet - British police are known as 'coppers' among other, less flattering, nicknames.

Answer: Wilfred Owen

All of these men are known as war poets, but Owen was the only one to die in action. Brooke died from sepsis in 1915, en route to Gallipoli, and Binyon died in 1943 at the age of 73. Sassoon reached the age of 80, dying only in 1967. Binyon's poem 'For the Fallen' includes some of the best known lines from war poetry: 'they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old' are read each Remembrance Sunday. Rupert Brooke wrote 'The Soldier': 'If I should die think only this of me' and Sassoon wrote many volumes of poetry. It was Sassoon who encouraged Wilfred Owen to write, and Owen's war poems include 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and 'Futility'.

The photo includes lines from another of Owen's well known works - 'Dulce et Decorum Est'.

Answer: Cider

The book title was 'Cider with Rosie', which covered Lee's childhood in the village of Slad, near Stroud, in Gloucestershire. The next two volumes were 'As I Walked out One Midsummer Morning' (1969) and 'A Moment of War' (1991). The war in question was the Spanish Civil War, where he fought with the International Brigade. The first book is probably the best known, and evokes the time between the two major wars of the twentieth century.

The photo is, of course, of a rose.

Answer: Nevil Shute

The author's full name was Nevil Shute Norway and he worked as a engineer in the aircraft industry under this name. He dropped his surname to ensure that his writing had no impact on his business life. Among his best known novels are 'A Town Like Alice' (1950), 'Pied Piper'(1942) and 'Beyond the Black Stump' (1956). 'On the Beach' was published in 1957 and told the bleak story of the aftermath of a nuclear war. The northern hemisphere had been wiped out, and the book focussed on some of the inhabitants of Australia, who knew that the radiation was inexorably making its way to their country and that they would inevitably die.

The picture of a beach may have helped you identify the novel, and author.

Answer: Tess Durbeyfield

Poor, misunderstood Tess is treated badly by all the men in her life. Having been seduced by Alec d'Urberville and given birth to a child, who soon dies, she falls in love with, and marries, Angel Clare. When he discovers her past, he abandons her - rather hypocritically in view of his own previous behaviour - and disappears to Brazil. Tess eventually kills Alec, and is arrested after spending the night asleep at Stonehenge.

Of the other choices, Bathsheba Everdene is from 'Far From the Madding Crowd' and Eustacia Vye appears in 'The Return of the Native'. Susan Henchard is the wife who was sold to another man in 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'.

I hope you recognised Stonehenge in the picture and could remember enough of poor Tess's tale to match it to the question.

Answer: William Golding

Golding's well known work is 'Lord of the Flies' which was published in 1954, the first of his books to make it into print. It tells the story of a group of boys who have to fend for themselves after their aeroplane crashes on a remote island. With no adults to help them, the boys soon become savages, not stopping even at murder. 'The Spire' was published in 1964 and 'To the Ends of the Earth' was issued in three volumes between 1980 and 1989.

As to the picture clue - the pig flies. Too tenuous I hear you cry, but maybe you remembered that one of the main characters in the novel was named Piggy.

Answer: Fire

'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' was the fourth book in the highly successful series written by J K Rowling. In this novel, Harry is entered into the Triwizard tournament (as a fourth contestant) even though he is underage and his school already has a representative in Cedric Diggory. Harry manages to survive the tasks, and an encounter with Voldemort, although Cedric is killed.

The picture was, I hope, sufficiently recognisable as a goblet to help you answer this question.

Answer: The Mill on the Floss

'The Mill on the Floss' was written by George Eliot, and was the second of her novels to be published - in 1860. Maggie Tulliver is the main character, while Tom is her brother. Maggie has two men in her life, but there are complications with both relationships and she is estranged from her brother. They are eventually reconciled, before a final tragedy. The other options listed are all books by George Eliot, whose real name was Mary Ann Evans.

The picture clue might be of more help to British players, as the confection shown is known as candy floss in this country. Americans call it cotton candy, but I assume you all know the alternative name for this deadly (to your teeth) confection.

Answer: Beatrix Potter

Beatrix Potter was the creator of many whimsical animal characters, with Peter Rabbit and his sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, perhaps the best known. 'The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse', a woodmouse who fights a continual battle against insects, came out in 1910. 'The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse' was one of her later publications, dating from 1918. It told the story of a country mouse who disliked living in town, while the visit of the town mouse to the country was equally unsuccessful.

As to the photo, there is little to add. I hope you all realised that it was the potter who was the clue, not the vase.

Answer: D H Lawrence

Lawrence was one of the more controversial novelists of the twentieth century, with some of his work being considered by some to border on pornography. 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', first published privately in 1928, was the subject of a trial in the UK in 1960. Its use of 'Anglo-Saxon' words was considered shocking, although the jury found the publisher, Penguin, not guilty of obscenity. Lawrence's better known novels include 'Sons and Lovers' (1913) and 'Women in Love' (1920).

Another novel, which was a prequel to 'Women in Love', was published in 1915 and called 'The Rainbow', as shown in the photo clue.