Author Rebus and Match Trivia Quiz

Answer: Noel

Cow + Ward

Sir Noel Peirce Coward was born in December 1899 in south west London and was talented in many artistic disciplines. He was a playwright, poet and author but he also wrote songs - lyrics and music, directed, sang, danced and acted himself.

In WWII he worked for the secret service and ran the British propaganda office in Paris. He was knighted in 1969 and died in 1973.

Answer: Beatrix

Pot + Err

Helen Beatrix Potter was born in July 1866 in London to a high class family and was thus raised into a life of privilege and money. She was a talented illustrator and began her professional life with her watercolours of plants and animals. It wasn't until her thirties that she wrote and illustrated "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" which was the first of her 24 children's books for which she was most renowned.

She was also a keen conservationist and bought huge amounts of property around her Lancashire home which she left to the National Trust and is now a large part of the Lakes District National Park. She died in December 1943.

Answer: William

Shake + Spear

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire presumably in early 1564 - records show his baptism in April of that year. He had a successful career as an actor in London and owned part of a theatre company but he is best known as a poet and playwright.

He wrote 154 sonnets and approximately 39 plays which covered comedies, romances, histories and tragedies. These have been translated into every language and are still performed all over the world. He is universally recognised as the greatest writer in English history. He died in 1616 at approximately 52 years of age.

Answer: Mary

Shell + Lea


Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was born in 1797 in London to wealthy parents who were both famous philosophers and novelists. She wrote in many different forms but is best remembered for her 1818 novel "Frankenstein".

She is also infamous for her love affair at 17 with fellow writer Percy Bysshe Shelley who was already married. The two traveled through Europe together and married when Shelley's wife committed suicide two years later.

Theirs was not a happy ending, the first three of their four children died and Shelley followed only six years after their marriage. Mary herself died in 1851 at age 53.

Answer: Edith

War + Tonne


Edith Wharton was born in January 1862 in New York City and her family was part of the American aristocracy. They traveled widely throughout Europe during her childhood and she grew up proficient in four languages. Despite private tutors she craved more education than was provided for girls in that era, so she relied heavily on books to fulfill this need.

Wharton wrote poetry and short stories from an early age and penned many non-fiction books on design, culture and travel but her first novel wasn't published until she was 40. "The Age of Innocence," probably her most eminent, made her the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature.

Answer: Nathaniel

Haw + Thorn


Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in July 1804. He worked at many jobs throughout the years and wrote as a sideline. He was originally known as a writer of short stories but branched into novels in his later life. His most famous novel, "The Scarlet Letter", was published in 1850 and is a perfect example of his writing style.

Most of his works are set in Puritan New England among a backdrop of sin, evil, guilt and final retribution. They were classed as 'dark romanticism' which had become a fascination with people of the age.

Answer: Anna

Sew + Well

Anna Sewell was born in Norfolk, England in March 1820 and is acclaimed for her book "Black Beauty". It is the only book she ever wrote, but it holds a place on most classic books lists and is in the top ten children's novels that were ever written.

Sewell fell at home when she was young, which left her with a chronic ankle injury. As she could not walk far she often rode in carriages and this is where she developed her love of horses and became aware of the cruelty which many were shown.

She wrote the novel while bed bound in the years 1871 to 1877 and died the following year. She received a one off payment of ₤40 from the publisher.

Answer: Victor

Hue + Go


Victor Marie Hugo, born in eastern France in 1802, was a famous French poet and novelist probably best remembered for "Les Miserables" and "The Hunchback of Note-Dame", both of which have also been made into musicals.

His work reflected the era in which he lived - his childhood saw both Napoleon take power and the return of the monarchy. Hugo was very interested in politics and held public office himself; he was a dedicated supporter of social reform in its many guises and was eventually exiled after accusing Napoleon III of being a traitor to France.

He died in 1885 and is buried in the Pantheon in Paris.

Answer: Kenneth

Gray + Ham + E


Kenneth Grahame was born in March 1859 at Edinburgh in Scotland but moved to England when he was five after the death of his mother. He excelled at school but was unable to attend university because of the cost involved. Instead he worked at the Bank of England until he retired from ill health at age 49.

It was then that he created bedtime stories for his young son that he eventually put together, and it became his masterpiece "The Wind in the Willows." He did write many short stories and other novels but none would match its reception.

Answer: Bram

Stoke + Cur


Abraham 'Bram' Stoker, born 1847 in Dublin, Ireland is most famous for his 1890 classic "Dracula."

Bram was interested in drama and became a theatre critic after earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1870. Through this he met Henry Irving, a famous English actor, and became his personal assistant.

After moving to London he then became Irving's agent and manager of his theatre, the Lyceum. During this time he also wrote short stories and worked on a London newspaper.

He wrote other horror stories and a biography of Irving after his death in 1905. Stoker continued to write fiction and also worked as a production manager at another theatre.