Ladies of the Book Club Quiz | Mixed Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Miriam, the founder of the group, is originally from Canada, and she is a real booster for Canadian literature. In our first meeting, we read a short story by a Canadian woman known primarily for this genre, although she also writes novels. Which book did we read at our first meeting?

Answer: "Moons of Jupiter" by Alice Munro

Alice Munro was born in 1931 in southwestern Ontario. She is an acclaimed writer of short stories, and received the Governor General's Prize, Canada's most distinguished literary honor, three times. In 2013 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Her stories have their foundation in her own youth in Canada during the Depression, and her experiences as a student, a mother and a wife. Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields and Margaret Laurence are all fine Canadian novelists. Atwood was the recipient of the Booker Prize in 2000.

2. Chaviva's husband is a collector of comic books, and she shares his interest. Chaviva was pleased to be able to present a book that deals with the development of super-hero comic books in the United States. What book did Chaviva present?

Answer: "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" by Michael Chabon

Maryland born Michael Chabon collected comic books as a kid. His interest in comic books was the inspiration for his Pulitzer-prize winning novel, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", published in 2000. The novel takes place in New York City during the Second World War, when two Jewish teenagers, one American born and the other a recent refuge from Czechoslovakia, create super-heroes to fight evil. Chabon's protagonists are loosely based on the real life creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel and Joseph Shuster. (This information comes from the Chabon web page.)

3. Rachel is a history buff, and she tries to add a lot of historical background when presenting a book. In fact, she once brought maps showing the occupation of Greece by Italian, and then German troops during the Second World War. What book could she be discussing?

Answer: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres

De Bernieres' novel is a love story set on the Greek island of Cephallonia during the Italian invasion of Greece during the Second World War. Captain Corelli, one of the occupying officers, is billeted at the home of Pelagia, and the two fall in love. I won't spoil the rest of the story for you, if you haven't already read it.

4. Evita is originally from South Africa and she wants us to learn something about Africa though literature. Which one of the following books does NOT take place in Africa?

Answer: "Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

J. M. Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer are both South African writers, and both are Nobel Prize laureates. Gordimer won the Nobel in 1991, and Coetzee in 2003. "Disgrace" deals with the moral decline of a university professor, while "July's People" probes the issue of a racially divided South Africa. American writer Barbara Kingsolver tells the story of a family of American missionaries who attempt to bring modern farming methods and Christianity to the Congo. "The Remains of the Day" is the fictional memoir of an English butler who once served in the grand home of an English aristocrat with fascist leanings.

It has nothing to do with Africa, but it well worth reading!

5. Reba is a very enthusiastic reader, and she is one of the members who assembles our reading list at the beginning of the year. She was thrilled to find a book that described a group of women who loved books, and met regularly to discuss them. However, these women met under adverse circumstances. What book had Reba found?

Answer: "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi

Azar Nafisi was a professor of American literature at various universities in Teheran, until the oppressive regime of Ayatollah Khomeini forced her to stay at home. However, she was able to organize a group of her former students who continued to meet in Nafisi's home and discuss the works of writers like Nabakov, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jane Austen. Eventually, Nafisi and her family were able to leave Iran for the United States, where she wrote her best-selling book.

The other books noted in the "incorrect" answer section also deal with the importance of books in the protagonist's lives.

6. One year we read contemporary fiction that was inspired by classic works of literature. Sharon, who loves plays, presented Shakespeare's "King Lear". What contemporary novel did Sharon present, which is based on the Bard's tragedy?

Answer: "A Thousand Acres" by Jane Smiley

Jane Smiley's novel transports "King Lear" to rural Iowa, where Larry Cook decides to divide his thousand acre farm amongst his three daughters. Smiley's novel, which was award a Pulitzer prize, is a feminist take on Shakespeare's play about father-daughter relationships.

The other three novels mentioned are also contemporary takes on older works. Cunningham's "The Hours" owes its story to Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway", though it is set in New York, rather than London. "Jack Magg's" is loosely based on the Dickens' classic "Great Expectations", and Anita Diamant has created a rather original reworking of the Biblical story of Dinah.

7. We've read a lot of novels that deal with the experience of immigration. This isn't surprising. Most of the book-club members are the children or grandchildren of immigrants from Eastern Europe, and all of us immigrated ourselves from various English-speaking countries to Israel. This is a subject that interests Stephanie - she even spent the summer studying Yiddish. However, she presented a book that tells the story of a young woman who immigrates to England from Bangladesh. What is the name of this book?

Answer: "Brick Lane" by Monica Ali

Monica Ali was born in Bangladesh in 1967 and moved to England at the age of three. Her first novel, "Brick Lane", tells the story of Nazneen, who is sent to England from Bangladesh by her family to marry a much older man. Not only does she adjust to life in England, she also develops as a woman in this rather feminist novel. "Brick Lane" was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2003. Andrea Levy's novel "Small Island" is about a young couple adjusting to married life and to England, after World War II. Levy was awarded the Orange Prize, the Whitbread Prize and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for her novel. Andre Dubus III writes about refugees from the Shah's Iran who have settled in California. "Natasha" is a collection of short stories about a Russian-Jewish family who immigrates to Toronto, just as David Besmozgis' family did.

8. At our book club meetings we like to serve refreshments that are inspired by the book. Susie is a professional chef, and her refreshments are always a treat. However, when presenting a certain book, Susie was limited. She couldn't make anything yellow or brown, and one type of food couldn't touch another. What book was Susie presenting?

Answer: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon's original mystery story is told from the perspective of a child with autism. Like many autistic children, Christopher John Francis Boone had obsessive ideas about what to eat, and even added red dye to brown or yellow foods. If I remember correctly, Susie served red and green jelly beans, and made sure they didn't touch one another. Mark Haddon was awarded both a Whitbread (2003) and a Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Novel (2004) for "The Incident. . " By the way, the title of the book comes from a story by Arthur Conan Doyle.

9. Hannah is originally from the Ukraine. She presented a book that describes some of the absurdness of life under Stalin, but was only published after Stalin had died. What important Russian work did Hannah introduce to the group?

Answer: "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhael Bulgakov

Mikhael Bulgakov, born in 1891, fought with the White Russians against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. During the Stalinist period his plays were almost always banned. Bulgakov began his most important work, "The Master and Margarita" in 1928.

He wrote many versions, burning some, and continued working on the novel until 1940, when he died. "The Master and Margarita" is a complex work, centering on the visit of the Devil in Stalinist Moscow. An important sub-plot involves Bulgakov's interpretation of the last days of Jesus in Jerusalem. "The Master and Margarita" is considered by many to be one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.

Although excerpts of the book were published in magazines as early as 1967, a full version of "The Master and Margarita" was not published in Russia until 1973. (Information for this question came from Jan Vanhellemmont's site devoted to "The Master and Margarita" and the Wikipedia.)_

10. Yours truly, Janet the quiz-writer, is originally from the great state of Maryland. Since I'm still a Maryland patriot, it was fun for me to present this novel, written by a woman who places most of her novels in or around Baltimore. Which book did I present?

Answer: "The Ladder of Years" by Ann Tyler

Ann Tyler, though born in North Carolina, has lived in the Roland Park section of Baltimore. "Ladder of Years" commences at an Eastern Shore beach resort, where the protagonist decides that her family has taken her for granted too long. On a sudden impulse she abandons her family, and starts life anew. The other three novels are all by women writers who have their roots in the South.

Source: Author janetgool

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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Ladies of the Book Club Trivia Quiz

Our Women's Literature Group has been meeting for over a decade. Here's a chance to see what we've been reading, and to meet some of the members.

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