"L"iterary Leading Ladies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thomas Mann

Some literary scholars think that this novel by Thomas Mann was written as a response to Goethe's novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther", which was published in 1774. It was a story of requited love but also was a political statement against Germany's aggressive military practices and their social oppression.

The story focuses on Lotte, who goes to see the man (Goethe) who had loved her 40 years before and whom she had scorned. The novel is based on real people and real events but is a work of fiction.

Answer: Her step-father

This scandalous novel about pedophilia, unwanted pregnancy and murder caused quite a stir when it was published. The story is narrated by Humbert, a middle aged English professor who has married a woman so that he can be near her 12 year daughter with whom he has become obsessed.

He describes the 12 year old as being the aggressor and sexually precocious. In the end, Lolita dies in childbirth along with her baby, Humbert ends up in jail and two other characters are dead. The term "Lolita" has become a synonym for nymphet and can be found in most modern dictionaries.

Answer: The Virgin Suicides

Eugenides wrote this dark comedy about the disintegration of the family unit. The story is about a group of men and their obsession with five sisters. After one of the sisters dies, the parents force them to live a life of solitary isolation. After trying to cope with their parents' overreaction, the sisters all kill themselves.

The group of men mentioned in the first sentence were actually teenage boyfriends of these sisters who have gotten back together to reminisce about what happened and what might have been.

Answer: Lavinia

"Lavinia" by Ursula K. Le Guin is an attempt to retell the story of Virgil's "Aeneid" (19 B.C.). This story about the ancient Greek world and the antique virtues of grace and loyalty looks at the relationship between the princess Lavinia and her husband Aeneas. The character of Lavinia is also mentioned in Dante's "Divine Comedy" (1308).

Answer: His Dark Materials

Lyra Silvertongue, aka Lyra Belacqua, is a teenage girl who lives in a parallel universe to our own. This trilogy of books includes "Northern Lights" (1995), "The Subtle Knife" (1997) and "The Amber Spyglass" (2000). This epic contains fantasy elements such as armored polar bears, evil witches and demons.

They all deal with the coming of age of Lyra and her male friend Will Parry, who travel together through these universes and learn about good and evil. By the end of the trilogy, Lyra has become a young woman.

Answer: False

"Lenore" is a lovely but dark paean to a beautiful young woman who has died. It was written by Edgar Allen Poe. This is not an uncommon topic for Poe. His works "Annabel Lee", "Eulalie" and "Eleonora" all deal with the death of a beautiful woman. He wrote at least four more on this theme.

This particular poem deals with the proper behavior and circumspect behavior to be shown this beautiful woman upon her demise.

Answer: The narrator's dog

Lorelei is the narrator's pet dog. After coming home and finding his wife has passed away, he spends the rest of the novel trying to get his dog Lorelei to speak. He wants the dog to tell him what happened to his wife, since the dog was the only witness.

The title of the book alludes to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel and the inability of everyone to communicate because they do not speak the same language. After a tortuous journey of grief, the narrator comes to terms with the death of his wife, which turns out to be a suicide.

He is also reunited with his dog Lorelei, from whom he had been separated after many experimental attempts to teach the dog to communicate in English.

Answer: False

This is false. The lead characters in that book are named Jem, Scout, Atticus and Calpurnia. The name "Lorena" is a song title written in 1856 by Rev. Henry Webster and Joseph P. Webster, whose name is believed to refer to the name of the character Lenore in Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven".

Answer: Charles Dickens

The full title of this book was originally "The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In". This was the second in a series of five Christmas-themed books written by Charles Dickens. It is a somewhat macabre story set in Victorian England that deals with personal and social responsibilities and man's responsibility to each other.

The story includes goblins, time travel, death and suffering. Lillian was an orphan child that the lead character, Toby, helped. But, because he did not do everything that he could, she died from consumption.

In the end the lead character awoke and found that the whole story was a dream.

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

In this unusual short story by Edgar Allan Poe, the narrator remains unnamed. He tells the story of Ligeia, his beautiful wife who falls ill and dies. He then marries a woman named Rowena who also dies. The narrator stays with Rowena's corpse overnight and watches her come back to life as Ligeia.

Many literary scholars believe that the story was based on an hallucination experienced by Poe after taking opium. The story was revised numerous time throughout his life, and the actual meaning of this rambling tale is still debated.