'Ladder of Years' by Anne Tyler Quiz

Answer: Pretend that they are a couple

Delia is shopping for her family when she meets Adrian, whose ex-wife Rosemary is in the supermarket with her new boyfriend. Adrian asks Delia to pretend to be his girlfriend and makes a point of talking to Delia about making her 'famous blancmange' and going to a concert in front of Rosemary.

He also insists on paying for Delia's shopping. The two later have an emotional affair, but it never goes further than a kiss. Rosemary's mother confronts Delia during a family dinner, claiming she has photographic evidence of Delia and Adrian together and that Adrian and Rosemary are getting back together, but the photo is too blurry.

However, Sam, Delia's husband, gets suspicious.

Answer: She goes for a ride with a workman in his RV.

Sam makes fun of Adrian's name, and Delia gets fed up and goes for a walk on the beach while Sam goes swimming. She arrives back at the Grinsteads' holiday home and calls for Vernon, the cat, but is surprised to meet a workman who has come to look at the roof, whose name is also Vernon. Vernon shows Delia his RV, which he has 'borrowed' from his brother, and Delia is impressed and asks Vernon to take her with him when he leaves, which unnerves him somewhat.

She claims to be going to Ashford, but decides to get out at a random church which, unbeknown to her, is a shelter for domestic violence victims.

She later finds out that Vernon - whose brother is abusive to his wife - thought Sam was abusing her.

Answer: George Bay, a deserter and the town's founder

Delia figures the town is called Bay Borough after looking at names of various businesses, and comes across a statue of George Bay, a soldier who deserted his regiment during the Civil War after an angel appeared in a dream and told him, "Ye are sitting in the barber's chair of infinity." He took it as an instruction to leave his regiment and stay behind to found a township.

She buys some new underwear and a dress, and goes for a walk around town. On seeing a sign advertising a room to rent, she asks Belle Flint, the landlady, about the room. Belle admits she would rather rent to a man as she had a bad experience with her last female tenant, but lets Delia have the room. Delia and Belle later become friends.

Answer: Legal secretary

Delia discovers that Katie O'Connell, the previous tenant with whom Belle had problems, was a legal secretary who worked for Zeke Pomfret, a local solicitor. Katie quit her job and eloped with another tenant, a divorcé called Larry Watts. Delia has been looking at local businesses and imagining which office she would choose to work for, picturing herself a serious secretary type in her new dress.

She has experiences working as a medical admin assistant in her father's clinic, and Mr Pomfret immediately takes her on.

However, as she settles into the job, she becomes frustrated and wants to move on, as Mr Pomfret is rather old-fashioned and keeps asking her to order random gadgets for him. She eventually decides to resign after he tells her off for butting in during a conference with a client.

Answer: Other people's use of language

Joel is the headmaster of Dorothy Underwood High, the local high school, and Delia meets him earlier on when he comes to Mr Pomfret's office to discuss custody of Noah. He is very popular with the other pupils' mothers and many of the female students, but idolises Ellie, his ex-wife, who left him after she discovered a lump in her breast (which turned out to be benign).

He insists on keeping the house exactly as she left it, and gets easily irritated at the way Noah speaks, such as 'humongous' and the use of 'goes' as a substitute for 'said'. Ellie later reveals that this was one of the reasons why she left, as he was always criticising how she talked. Delia meets Joel after seeing the advert in the newspaper and finding out from her new friend Vanessa that there are few other options.

She has misgivings about the job, as does Belle, but eventually decides to take it and moves in with the Millers.

Answer: Eliza and Carroll

Delia is the youngest of three sisters; Eliza is the oldest, and is into alternative medicine and reincarnation, while Linda, the middle sister, is a divorcée with a thing about French culture (hence her twin daughters being named Marie-Claire and Therese). Susie is the oldest of Delia and Sam's children, then Ramsay, then Carroll. Eliza - who made a comment about Delia being a cat in a previous life in the missing persons report, much to Delia's annoyance - comes to visit her a few weeks after her disappearance, and tries to get Delia to come back with her, but Delia refuses.

The children, Linda, Eliza and Eleanor, Sam's mother, all send her birthday cards after Eliza gives them her address. Much later, when Delia is working for the Millers, Carroll comes to visit, to warn her that Eliza is coming on to Sam. Delia insists on taking him for lunch, but Carroll storms out when he finds out Delia has a new life and new friends and is, as he puts it, 'ensconced'. Ramsay gives Carroll a lift in, but does not talk to Delia.

Answer: She pushes Delia away and accidentally cuts her forehead.

Delia has previously seen Ellie at the wedding of Nat, her father, and Binky, a younger woman who works in his nursing home (and who later turns out to be pregnant with his child), but did not speak to her. However, she properly meets her for the first time when Ellie is trying to force Noah into her car, and when Delia shouts at Ellie, Ellie accidentally cuts her forehead open with her ring. Ellie freaks out and insists on driving Delia to a doctor. Ellie turns out to be rather neurotic, and nearly crashes her car. Delia twists her ankle when she gets out of the car and accidentally steps into a hole, and when they get to the doctor, Ellie claims Delia cut her head on a car door.

When Delia gets home, Joel bandages her swollen foot and Delia is surprised by the intimacy of the moment.

Answer: Horace Lamb

Horace Lamb is the only other tenant at Belle's boarding house; he is a morose travelling salesman who looks a bit like Abraham Lincoln, watches nature documentaries and sells storm windows for a local company, Rue-Ray. Belle has a thing for married men, as Delia finds out when she finds Belle crying after the man she invited over for a Thanksgiving dinner went back to his wife. Mr Lamb comes to the dinner, along with Vanessa and her son Greggie, and Donald and Melinda Hawser, a dysfunctional couple who are Belle's clients. Vanessa suggests Mr Lamb as a potential boyfriend for Belle, and at first she is indignant, but ends up getting engaged to him after Mr Lamb proposes to her with champagne and roses.

Rick Rackley is a former football player, now working as a chef at a cafe, Rick-Rack's, where his wife Teensy is the waitress. Teensy's father disapproves of Rick because he is black, and the atmosphere is always tense when he comes to visit. Carroll is amazed to discover that his mother is good friends with Rick when the two of them go for lunch at Rick-Rack's.

Answer: Susie's wedding

Delia gets a letter from Susie asking her to phone Sam, as he is being 'difficult'. She calls home and finds out that Susie and Sam are no longer on speaking terms, and that Sam wants Susie to live on her own for a year before marrying Driscoll Avery, her fiancé.

After she gets back from her holiday in Ocean City, she finds a wedding invitation from Susie. The night before she leaves for home, she and Joel kiss. Mr Lamb gives her a lift back to the family home and she discovers that Susie has fallen out with Driscoll and wants to cancel the wedding. Susie also fills her in about what has gone on during her absence: Eliza has moved out because she was making advances on Sam and he wasn't interested; Ramsay and Carroll have also quarrelled with Sam and left home; Susie has started a new business called House in a Box, which sells basic household supplies, and thinks Driscoll is unsupportive.

The wedding is called off, much to Linda's annoyance as her plane ticket was very expensive. Both Joel and Noah phone to ask where Delia is, as she decides to stay on for a bit longer. Susie is angry with Delia and asks her why she walked out.

Answer: Apologise to a boy who called their house by accident

Susie tells Delia that while they were watching TV, a random boy phoned up several times asking for a girl called Courtney, and Driscoll finally lost patience and said that Courtney wanted nothing to do with him. Susie gets angry and gives him the ring back. Susie and Driscoll eventually talk things over and Driscoll finds out that she wants him to find the boy, apologise to him and bring him over. Driscoll and Delia search for the Courtney in question, and she mentions Paul Cates, a nerdy boy who has a crush on her, and says she gave him her number with a couple of digits changed. Driscoll brings Paul and Courtney over, and Nat also arrives, claiming he was just going for a drive, though Delia suspects he has come to take her back to Bay Borough. Nat is tired and emotional, so Delia puts him up for the night. Susie and Driscoll reconcile, as do Delia and Sam, and it is implied that Delia will stay with her family.