Literary Siblings Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beth

And since, sadly, we all know why, let's just not go into that, OK?

I always thought that Louisa May Alcott got the mixture of love and exasperation between sisters just about right. She was one of four sisters herself, and must have drawn from life.

Answer: Her husband's suicide

Shirley discovers her husband Cliff's body in the garage, packs a bag, and takes off for France.
"'What do you mean, vanished?' said Alix to Liz.
'Vanished', repeated Liz, her voice over the telephone hitting a note of unseemly but probably hysterical mirth. 'Vanished. Not a sign of her.'
'And Cliff was dead in the garage?' repeated Alix, stupidly.
'So they tell me, Been dead for days, they tell me.'
'And Shirley...?'
'Not a sign of her.'
'But Cliff...hadn't been murdered, had he?'"

I've always felt a lot of sympathy with Shirley. She has a bit of a breakdown, a little "fling" I'd guess you'd call it, with a man in France, and comes back feeling much better.

Margaret Drabble is a younger sister - her older sister is novelist A. S. Byatt.

Answer: Merry and Pippin

Elladan and Arwen are both children of Elrond and Celebrian, along with their brother Elrohir.
Faramir and Boromir are the sons of Denethor, the steward of Gondor.
Eowyn and Eomer are the children of Eomund and Theodwyn - their mother was King Theoden's sister.
Merry and Pippin are related (cousins), but are not brothers.

Tolkien himself had a younger brother, Hilary.

Answer: East of Eden

This 1952 John Steinbeck novel is so rich and detailed that I can't even begin to give a plot outline, much less sum up the book. The 1955 James Dean movie doesn't even catch a corner of this marvellous book. If the only Steinbeck you have ever read is "The Red Pony" or "Of Mice and Men" for school, do yourself a favour and check this out - it will knock you flat, especially if you have siblings.

John Steinbeck had three sisters, but he certainly knew something about brothers, too.

Answer: Sherlock Holmes

Mycroft Holmes was seven years older than Sherlock, and seldom strayed far from the Diogenes club, his office, or his rooms.
Peter Wimsey did indeed have an older brother, Gerald, but I think I'm safe in saying he was not by any measure smarter. In fact, he ends up in one book being tried for murder. They also had a younger sister, Mary.
Hercule Poirot may have a twin brother, Achille. Achille Poirot appears in one book, "The Big Four", but is later shown to possibly be Hercule in disguise.
I haven't been able to find any mention of siblings for Miss Marple, though she must have had at least one, since she has a nephew.

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes' creator, was one of a large family - six of his siblings survived to adulthood.

Answer: Franny

Allie, two years younger, died of leukemia, before the book started. The older brother D. B. was out in Hollywood, writing screenplays, much to Holden's disgust. And Phoebe, well, she just "...looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God, I wish you could've been there."

J. D. Salinger had one sister, Doris.

Answer: Mr Wickham

Elizabeth, of course, has her four sisters. Mr Bingley has two sisters in the book, while Mr Darcy's sister, Georgiana, figures quite importantly in the plot.

Jane Austen herself had one sister, Cassandra, and six brothers.

Answer: To Kill a Mockingbird

This is another book that seems to me to get the balance of what it is to be a sibling right. The easy passage from loyal friend to cruel tormentor, and back again, is one that most brothers and sisters will find familiar.

Harper Lee had two sisters and a brother; she was the youngest.

Answer: He was an idiot locked in the attic

"In the cage was an odd being, smaller than Francis himself, dressed in crumpled flannelette pyjamas; its head was very small for its body, and the skull ran, not to a point, but to a knob, not very big, on which grew black hair. Because the top of the head was so small, the lower part seemed larger than it was, the nose longer, the jaw broader, and the very small eyes peeped out at the world without much comprehension. They were now fixed on Francis. The child, or the creature, or whatever it was, opened its lips and made the mewing sound that Francis had sometimes heard downstairs.
'Come along, Francis, and shake hands with your older brother,' said Zadok..."

Francis the First, or "The Looner", as he is known, is supposed by the townspeople to have died very young. Only a few people know that he is alive and growing, in the attic.
This is a marvelous book - rich, textured, layered - everything we want fiction to be and which it so seldom is. If you like a book with a bit of meat to it, and don't mind if things get a little odd every now and then, the Cornish Trilogy, of which this is the second book, is for you.

Robertson Davies had two older brothers.

Answer: E. Nesbit

Cyril, Anthea, Robert and Jane (Squirrel, Panther, Bobs and Pussy) are the children in the "Psammead" trilogy, of which "Five Children and It" is the first.
The Bastables are found in "The Treasure Seekers" and "The Would-Be-Goods".
Bobbie, Peter, and Phyl are "The Railway Children".

Edith Nesbit was the youngest of five.