The Widow Ginger Trivia Quiz

Answer: He's American

Widow Ginger's nickname comes from Cockney rhyming slang - Widow Twanky = Yankee, because he's American, and Ginger Beer = Queer because he is a homosexual.
Paulette explains it to Rosie as "he's queer, well you have to admit love, he is a very strange man" as Rosie is just nine years old.

Answer: Bandy Bunyan

Bandy's club has a waiting list for membership, and Uncle Bert says it's because people "queue up to be insulted by her". Bandy is famous for her sarcastic sharp tongue and her capacity for gin.

Answer: Terrorising the natives in Kathmandu

Great Aunt Dodie is one of Rosie's favourite people in all the world. She is a true "English eccentric" and does exactly as she pleases, when she pleases, with no regard for anyone's opinion.
She hates the English winter so often goes travelling to avoid it. This time she comes home at Easter.

Answer: Jenny

Jenny is very ill, and eventually dies. Rosie is too young to have realised just how ill, but she gradually comes to see how serious her condition is.
It is only after Jenny's funeral that it really hits Rosie that her friend is truly gone.

Answer: Stands on his foot and dirties his shoe

The Widow is lurking about and follows Rosie and Uncle Bert home. As Rosie runs round the corner, she stands on his foot and scuffs his shoe. The Widow grabs Rosie and glares at her whilst telling her to "clean it NOW" and she is truly terrified.

Answer: Nuns

The Widow is terrified of nuns.
Nobody ever finds out why, but Uncle Bert remembers once when some nuns were collecting for charity and the Widow went "white as a sheet," and gave them a large sum of money before practically running away.

Answer: Chinchilla O'Reardon

Maltese Joe has a crush on Betty, but she resists his advances gracefully. He gives her a job at his club and calls her Chinchilla O'Reardon. Chinchilla is because fur coats are very expensive and Betty refuses to accept one as a gift from him, and O'Reardon because he says she has a very fine rear!

Answer: A red scarf in the window

When Jenny is bedridden, she and Rosie arrange a series of signals so they can "talk" to each other as Rosie passes the window on her way to and from school.
When the Widow takes Jenny's mum hostage later on, she remembers the girls signals and hangs the red scarf in the window.
Rosie sees it, tells TC the policeman what it means, and he arranges help for Jenny's mum.

Answer: Cello

Mr. Rabinowitz is an excellent violinist and has been secretly teaching Maltese Joe to play too. He gives Rosie some lessons on a child size cello, and when she sticks with her practising, Maltese Joe buys the cello for her birthday and pays for her lessons.

Answer: Not the children! Not Again!

When the Widow set Maltese Joe's club on fire, Mr. Rabinowitz had to be rescued as his flat was in the same building. He is an elderly Jewish man who fled the Russian Revolution and the fire reminded him of the pogroms and distressed him deeply.
When he sees the Widow threatening Rosie he has a sort of flashback and snaps, and even though he is a frail old man, he hits the Widow over the head and knocks him out.