Edge of Eternity Trivia Quiz

Answer: Winter of the World

The "Century Trilogy" follows three generations of families from around the globe, linked by and living through each of World War I ("Fall of Giants" - published in 2010), World War II ("Winter of the World" - published in 2012) and the concluding decades of the twentieth century ("Edge of Eternity" - published in 2014).

Answer: Her husband, Hans

Rebecca was rescued and adopted by Clara Von Ulrich (later Carla Frank) following a harrowing experience at the tail end of the holocaust years. Having met Hans later in life it was she who proposed to him, having been surprised that he did not ask himself. Tragically, she discovers early in the novel that he had married her solely for the purpose of allowing him to spy on her English/German liberal family.

Answer: Martin Luther King, Jr

George Jakes is an aspiring young lawyer who chooses to work for the Kennedy administration, thinking that he will be able to support the civil rights movement from within. He falls in love with Verena, a young woman working for Martin Luther King, Jr when he boards a greyhound bus in Washington to protest segregation in the Deep South of the USA.

Answer: Plum Nellie

Along with Dave Williams and a couple of Dave's friends, Walli joins "Plum Nellie", which is successful in a way only really seen in real life with "The Beatles". The band eventually splits following arguments and clashes of ego, the downfall beginning when Dave Williams is offered a television show of his own, without the rest of the band, and Walli is caught sleeping with Dave's fiancée.

Answer: Nikita Khrushchev

As a young apparatchik in the USSR, Dimka is responsible for organizing parts of the Cuban Missile Crisis. His story is made all the more complicated by the fact that his twin sister Tanya is a dissident who is almost caught early in the novel with incriminating literature.

Answer: Beep

Ursula "Beep" Dewar (so named because of her childhood mumblings) grows up in the aftermath of the world wars, eventually living her teenage years during the 1960s when free love and pop culture became prominent. She meets and falls in love with Dave Williams, who is successful as a member of Plum Nellie, but ultimately brings about the downfall of the band (in what looks to be a comparison with Yoko Ono) when she sleeps with Walli Franck in an expression of what she terms "free love".

Answer: Cuba

As a dissident and critic of the Soviet Regime, Tanya finds herself in a difficult position in the USSR when her hero, a dissident writer, is imprisoned for his writing and her twin brother joins the Soviet government. She is sent to Cuba as a journalist and finds herself right in the thick of the action.

Answer: Jasper Murray

By obtaining a work permit to work in television in the USA, Jasper became a "resident alien" and is, therefore, randomly conscripted. The only alternative to joining up is to go back home to the UK, but Jasper is aware that this will ruin his show business career.

Answer: Play folk songs about freedom in public places

Karolin was pregnant with Walli Franck's baby when he crossed the Berlin Wall and headed to the USA. Many of the sings that he writes for Plum Nellie speak of separation and loss as a result. Karolin feels that she is close to him by protesting with music. Eventually, Karolin moves on and marries Odo, a pastor, leading Walli to embrace the "swinging sixties" culture of the music world.

Answer: Barack Obama has just been elected

Following a lifetime of fighting for civil rights both as part of the Kennedy administration and as an idealistic youth who took part in the Freedom Ride (amongst other things), George Jakes is moved to tears by Obama's election. When his granddaughter asks why he is crying, he tells her "it's a long story".