"The House of Special Purpose" - John Boyne Quiz

Answer: Russia

Georgy was born in 1899 and now, at the age of 82, he writes about his very eventful life. He and his wife Zoya have always been tight-lipped about their lives before they had to flee Russia. Now, poor Zoya is dying and they are both looking back on a shared happy life, but sadly, one marred by tragedy.

Answer: Grand Duke Nicholas

In 1915, The Great War has been raging across Europe for nearly a year. Georgy is 16, and there are two Nicholases in the Russian Royal Family. The Tsar (Emperor) Nicholas II and his cousin The Grand Duke - commander of the army. One day, Georgy saves the latter Nicholas' life.

The Grand Duke and his entourage are marching through Georgy's hometown Kashin. The villagers gather on the side of the road and cheer the military procession, but not all villagers are pro-monarchy. For generations, resentment has grown in Russia against the autocratic Tsars.

In 1915 it is worse - many commoners are poor, hungry and tired of watching their sons go off to fight German and Austria-Hungary - never to return. One such person is Georgy's best friend. He pulls out a gun to murder the Grand Duke, but Georgy jumps forward to stop him.

His shoulder takes the bullet instead - and the would-be assassin is hanged. When Georgy awakens at home, the Grand Duke himself is there. He tells Georgy he will be coming with him to St Petersburg the capital. Most of Georgy's family are indifferent to the fact that their only son and brother is off to serve the Tsar. Georgy knows his life will never be the same again.

But he has been bestowed a great honour! However, he is sad his friend is dead, and he inappropriately feels guilty.

Answer: Finland

In 1918, after the young couple flee Russia, they settle in Paris. Georgy gets a job in a bookstore, and gets a similar job in the British Museum years later when they move to London. In 1980 the elderly couple visit Finland, a year before Zoya dies of cancer. Due to 60 years of political strife they have never been able to return to their homeland.

But now, looking across the water from Helsinki, Zoya asks her husband if they might risk one last visit? Georgy agrees, and later they end up walking past the former Imperial Winter Palace. Memories come flooding back. One elderly lady even seems to recognise Zoya, and asks for her blessing.

Answer: Bodyguard for the Tsarevich

In 1915 the Tsar's only son Alexei is Tsarevich (heir to the throne). Due to a secret ailment (hemophilia) no one tells Georgy about, the boy needs careful monitoring. Georgy is assigned to the Leib guards. He enjoys the boy's company and vice versa. But one day when the young prince falls off a tree, Georgy cannot understand why the family are panicking. Alexis seems fine. But that night he screams in agony. His family reveals to Georgy the boy is actually a hemophiliac. He had better keep a closer eye on him in future!

The last time the two boys see one another is 1918. The Russian royal family are now prisoners in the "House of Special Purpose". Both boys say they have considered the other the brother they never have. They embrace, and Georgy promises to light a candle every year on Alexei's birthday, August the 12th. The poor boy is shot only a day later - with the rest of his family; so history says, anyway.

Answer: Arina

After suffering many miscarriages, the couple finally have a baby. Their daughter is born in 1934, and eventually grows up and marries a man named Ralph. The grandson Michael is born 1961. He loses his mother due to a random traffic accident in 1970. Of course, Georgy and Zoya are crying just as much as Michael and his father at the hospital, but Michael and Ralph have no idea that Zoya also lost her mother as a child - and not just her mother. Poor Zoya still feels unable to confide her past after so long - even to her family. Now the death of her daughter is another tragedy she unfairly blames herself for.

She honestly believes she is cursed.

Answer: It is never specified

Exactly how many times the poor woman tries to cut her wrists is not revealed. Georgy refers to the day he found her with slashed wrists as "the first time", so it obviously was not an isolated incident. This is 1933 and poor Zoya is sent to a psychiatric ward.

The head doctor is helpful, if rather arrogant. He believes Zoya was just trying to get attention. Georgy cannot agree. For one thing, it was only a fluke he came home from work that morning, sick! For another, Georgy knows his wife keeps feeling guilty about what happened when she was a young girl.

He wishes he could tell the doctors everything. But he knows even after all these years there is a chance confessing could be the death of them. Bolsheviks are good assassins!

Answer: False

During the Great War (known as "World War One" after 1939) Georgy spends a lot of time in the splendor of the Imperial Palaces. All Russians are raised to regard Tsar Nicholas II as equal to God. Georgy accidentally meets the great man on his first night at the palace.

He enters the wrong room, and sees the Tsar writing at his desk. But the Tsar turns out to be quite a kindly man. He welcomes Georgy into his service, encourages him to read his books, etc. Sadly the poor man did not realise just how resentful his people were becoming. Or perhaps he did, but preferred to ignore the elephant in the room, and stick to his extravagant lifestyle.

His wife, the Tsarina, and his son and four daughters love and respect him very much. So does Georgy in time, although as a servant he is often over-looked like an item of furniture. Author John Boyne does a SUPERB job of recreating the Romanov palaces, their special train, and their early 20th century royal luxury. Georgy is quite captivated by the finery, but that is nothing compared to how captivated he is about a certain person he meets in his new job.

Answer: False

While living in Kashin, Georgy's elder sister Asya was the only member of the family he felt comfortable around. She was protective of him, and as he grew she told many stories about how wonderful St Petersburg was. Asya fondly wanted to live there one day. Georgy had no idea that at 16 he would be sent there himself! But after about a year has gone by, Asya suddenly approaches him in the street.

She asks him to see if she can work at the palace. Even though the head-housekeeper has a vacancy, Georgy lies.

He wants to forget about his past; the Tsar and his family are Georgy's family now. He doesn't want anything more to do with his Kashin relatives. Asya leaves, upset. Georgy regrets that for the rest of his life. He never knew what became of his family after the turbulent events of 1917.

Answer: Rasputin

Father Grigori Rasputin was a horrible man. But he was so fondly loved by the Empress (whom he tricked into thinking his prayers saved her son's life) no one dared challenge him. Until one day.

In December 1916 the lurid priest invites Georgy to his various orgies to try and "recruit" the boy. Georgy almost falls for Rasputin's captivating charm. But then he learns Rasputin has betrays a mutual friend in the Tsar's Guard. Georgy angrily sets out that night to avenge the betrayal. But he is too late; Rasputin has already been murdered by Felix Yusupov, a relative of the Tsar. Felix and co. laugh when Georgy tells them why he was sneaking into the Yusupov residence. Georgy helps throws the horrible man's body into the river.

Answer: He is executed

Having no other friends in Paris, the couple are glad to befriend flamboyant artist Leo and his girlfriend Sophie. The latter works at the same garment factory as Zoya. But one day, Leo gets into a fight and kills the policeman who tries to break it up (he accidentally pushes the poor gendarme down some steps).

He is caught, tried, and executed the next morning. Poor Sophie leaves France after that. Georgy and Zoya decide to do the same; they move to London where they stay for good, the latter once again blaming herself for a tragedy she could not possibly have been responsible for.

Answer: False

This actually happens to Georgy's friend and colleague Sergei from the Leib Guards. He and the Duchess Marie are in love, but Rasputin betrays Sergei. Before Sergei is "escorted" to his new "home" Georgy begs to speak alone with him for a few minutes. Sergei reveals that Rasputin informed the Empress. Georgy, as previously stated, goes to find Rasputin to avenge Sergei's likely death.

Little do the Tsar and Tsarina know that another member of their Leib Guards is romantically involved with a daughter: Princess Anastasia. Georgy met her when he came to palace the previous year. They were attracted to each other straight away, but they can only meet in secret for walks, and talking and kissing. Otherwise Anastasia's father would not hesitate to make an example of Georgy, too.

Answer: Their friends' flat

Before Leo is arrested, he offers his flat to his new friends for their wedding. Georgy and Zoya have decided to marry and agree this is a suitable venue. They have lived in Paris over a year now. But Zoya wanted to keep things respectful, so they lived separately.

They find a Russian priest who comes around to perform the ceremony. At the end, Zoya happily lifts her veil to kiss her best friend and new husband. But when the old man sees her face, he gasps with astonishment! Does he recognise her from somewhere? Outside in the hallway, he says a few words to Zoya before hurrying away.

She does not tell Georgy what was said, but he can guess.

Answer: Translating Russian letters for MI6

In 1941 a strange young man called "Mr. Jones" approaches Georgy. The mysterious fellow occasionally gets Georgy to translate Russian letters - Winston Churchill himself once thanks Georgy for his hard work. These letters come from soldiers on the Eastern Front, though most were written in 1940. Mr. Jones once tells our hero that he has visited various parts of Russia, including the famous small town of Yekaterinburg. Georgy sits bolt upright at the mention of that place.

It was the place his former employer the Tsar and his family were massacred in 1918. Little does the informed Mr. Jones known Georgy was there on that fateful night of July 17th 1918.

Answer: False

On March 14th 1917, the Great War is going very badly for Russia. The Germans have been gaining more and more ground since 1914. Even when the Tsar takes command at the front, morale is still virtually non-existent. Now Georgy is accompanying his master to the front on the Royal Train. But they have stopped on the tracks in the middle of a forest. Why? Georgy asks the Tsar if he can help, but the Tsar is so stressed he just explodes, and Georgy leaves the office. The poor monarch is not himself.

The very next morning, the Tsar is no longer Tsar.

Outside the train, Georgy asks another guard what's happened. The answer is simple: the Tsar has been forced to abdicate. He has been arrested and taken away. Russia is now controlled by a new political party called The Bolsheviks. Will Georgy join them? He certainly will not! He is loyal to Anastasia's father. His "friend" shakes his head sadly, and walks around to the other side of the train to speak to the other traitors. Georgy can guess what is about to happen. He sprints for his life into the trees - just in time. He hears angry shouts and sounds of pursuit! The 17-year-old is now an enemy of the state.

Poor Georgy lives like a fugitive for over a year. He avoids towns and villages if he can. He wanders across the whole country. Why? He desperately wishes to find poor Anastasia. He loves her, he must at least ensure she is all right. He will not rest until he sees her again. Eventually our hero learns the Romanov Family are "guests" of the new premier Lenin. They are kept in a special house in Yekaterinburg. It is not easy, and virtually impossible, but Georgy eventually makes his way across the newly-renamed "Soviet Union" to that infamous house. He hides in the forest outside. He eventually gets onto the premises by offering to help a guard change a tire. Once the man is gone, Georgy is pleasantly surprised when his friend Alexei appears. The two boys are happy to see each other. That night Alexei tells his sister her long-lost boyfriend has returned. She happily agrees to sneak out to see Georgy that night. Little do they know that rendezvous saves her life.
That night, from outside the window, poor Anastasia witnesses her entire family being shot. Traumatised, she runs off to find Georgy.

Answer: They are the same person

Happy to be back in her beloved's arms, yet devastated by the murder of her family, Anastasia agrees with Georgy. They must flee - NOW! The two of them run like crazy through the night. Three days later they sit in a train heading west - out of The Soviet Union. Poor Anastasia finally speaks after three days of silence. She tells Georgy some guards marched into the sitting room that night. Sneaking out to find Georgy, she was watching outside the window. She caught her father's eye. But the old man shook his head - he knew if she came inside it would mean her death too. He was not so naive as to believe his "successor" Lenin would let them live.

She knows Georgy has risked his life and searched frantically for her for almost 18 months. There is no longer any doubt he loves her as much as she loves him. But she tells him to call her "Zoya" now. It means "Life".

In 1981, she dies after fighting cancer for nearly two years. Her grandson Michael visits his mourning grandfather after her funeral. After seeing to the aged hero, he runs off, having no idea he is in fact the last surviving Tsar of Russia.