My Favorite Authors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Persuasion

George Eliot wrote "The Mill on the Floss". Emily Bronte wrote "Wuthering Heights". Edith Wharton wrote "The House of Mirth".

Answer: A Passage to India

E.M. Forster wrote "A Passage to India" (which resembles "Burmese Days" in some ways, since both authors are critical of British imperialism). "Keep the Aspidistra Flying" is a heart-wrenching novel by Orwell, and "Down and Out in Paris and London" is a sad but funny memoir about being "down and out" in these two cities.

Answer: Elizabeth Enright

Elizabeth Enright is one of my favorite children's authors. She won a Newbery Medal for "Thimble Summer". She's warm, witty, and poetic. Her Melendy books (my favorites) take place during the 1940s. (I have a quiz on Enright under For Children under Books for Older Children.) Beverly Cleary writes the Beezus and Ramona books, among many others. Cynthia Voigt wrote a wonderful book for young adults called "Homecoming".

Its sequel, "Dicey's Song", won a Newbery Medal. Irene Hunt won a Newbery Medal for a terrific book called "Up a Road Slowly".

Answer: Kingsley Amis

"Lucky Jim" is Amis's first novel. It takes place in the early 1950s, and it is laugh-out-loud funny. It's about a hapless young history professor who's stuck with a job he doesn't like, a pompous supervisor whom he despises, and a clingy girlfriend whom he doesn't love (or even like very much). I have tried to read other books of Amis's, but never liked any of them, oddly enough.

Answer: the Freddy the Pig books

Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the Little House books. Frank Baum wrote the Wizard of Oz books. Arnold Lobel wrote the Frog and Toad books. If you or your kids have never read the Freddy the Pig books, try "Freddy Goes to Florida" or "Freddy Goes to the North Pole".

Answer: A Map of the World

Jane Hamilton wrote "A Map of the World" (a fantastic book, though heart-wrenching). Anne Tyler is my favorite living author. She is a lovely person, too; she answers every fan letter. She even sent me an audiotape of "Back When We Were Grownups"! If you've never read her work, you might start with "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant".

Answer: She naively marries a much older man who is wrong for her

If you haven't read "Middlemarch", you MUST! Or you might rent the video of the Masterpiece Theatre production.

Answer: She is in love with her cousin, but he seems to love another

Fanny is a sort of Cinderella character. In the end, she wins her prince.

Answer: He accidentally causes his brother's and sister-in-law's deaths

After his brother and sister-in-law die, 19-year-old Ian feels it's his duty to raise their three children.

Answer: He's a nervous, picky old invalid (though he's also very kind)

Old Mr. Woodhouse is very fond of gruel, a watery porridge. He's always worrying about other people's health, as well as his own. Other funny male characters include Mr. Collins ("Pride and Prejudice"), Sir Walter Elliot ("Persuasion"), and Mr. John Dashwood ("Sense and Sensibility").

Answer: These Happy Golden Years

"The First Four Years" tells about the Wilders' early married life.

Answer: The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James wrote "The Portrait of a Lady". He and Wharton were friends, and I imagine they influenced each other. My favorite Wharton novel is "The House of Mirth".

Answer: Adam Bede

George Eliot wrote "Adam Bede". I love Hardy's novels, but they are often so tragic that they are excruciating to read. He wrote some beautiful poetry, too.

Answer: Clarissa

"Clarissa" is LONG--four volumes and consists of letters to and from Clarissa and the book's villain, Mr. Lovelace. If you ever have a free summer, read it! "Emma" is by Jane Austen, "Tom Jones" is by Henry Fielding and "Jane Eyre" is by Charlotte Bronte.

Answer: Troilus and Criseyde

In Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde" (unlike Shakespeare's version of the tale), Criseyde is a sympathetic character who betrays Troilus, her lover, due to circumstances beyond her control.

Answer: Tess Durbeyfield

Tess Durbeyfield is the tragic heroine of Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles". Catherine Morland appears in Austen's "Northanger Abbey"; Anne Elliot is the heroine of Austen's "Persuasion"; and Marianne Dashwood is co-heroine (along with her sister Elinor) of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility".

Answer: Barbara Vine

Ruth Rendell writes the Chief Inspector Wexford mysteries. Under the name Barbara Vine she writes wonderful psychological mysteries such as "A Dark Adapted Eye" and "The Chimneysweeper's Boy".

Answer: He writes mysteries about the British horseracing world

Scott Turow writes about Midwest lawyers. Sue Grafton sets her mysteries in "Santa Teresa", California. Chief Inspector Wexford is Ruth Rendell's character.

Answer: Double Indemnity

"Double Indemnity" is by James M. Cain. It was made into a movie in 1944.

Answer: Hazel, Fiver, and Bigwig

"Watership Down" is about a band of brave rabbits searching for a new home. Mr. Toad et al appear in "The Wind in the Willows". Freddy the pig, Jinx the cat, and company appear in Walter Brooks's Freddy books. E.B. White wrote "Charlotte's Web", which features Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig.

Answer: J.K. Rowling

White wrote "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little". Lewis wrote "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and its sequels, and Travers wrote the Mary Poppins books.

Answer: Mary Ann Evans

George Eliot wrote "Middlemarch", "Silas Marner", "The Mill on the Floss", and many other good books.

Answer: Anthony Trollope

Trollope also wrote "Barchester Towers" and MANY more.

Answer: Sanditon

Sadly, JA died in her 40s.

Answer: 1775

She was born around the same time as the U.S. In case you haven't already figured this out, Jane Austen is my favorite author. Anne Tyler is my favorite living author. Elizabeth Enright is my favorite children's author. Please take some of my other literature quizzes under Jane Austen and under For Children (and under Fractured Words).