Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. According to Ernest Hemingway, this American novelist was "pretty" and "had a mouth that troubled you when you first met him and troubled you more later." He made his name at the age of 23 when his novel, based on his time at Princeton University, "This Side of Paradise" was published. In 1920, he married 20-year-old Zelda Sayre, who was declared insane by the age of 29. Enough clues, who was the man?
2. This Brontė sister was initially discouraged in her writing by both Southey and Wordsworth, who considered it not to be a job for a woman. Thackeray, however, encouraged her, leading to the dedication of her best known novel to him. The only one of the sisters to marry, she wed her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls in 1854, but died whilst pregnant a year later. So, which sister was it?
3. Having read medicine and qualified in 1884, this Russian writer considered himself a doctor, rather than an author, saying, "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress." His first book, "Motley Stories," was published when he was 26 and at the age of 41 he married an actress called Olga Knipper. Who was he?
4. When he died in Samoa at the age of 44, this Scottish writer bequeathed his birthday (November 13) to a young girl he knew, as her own took place on Christmas Day and she lamented just the one annual present-receiving occasion! Whilst travelling in France he met the love of his life, an older, married American woman by the name of Fanny Osbourne, who would eventually become his wife. At the time of his death, "Weir of Hermiston" was still unfinished. The clues are there--who's the man?
5. Son of a shoemaker, this rather effeminate story-teller never married, although he wore a letter from his childhood sweetheart, Riborg Voigt, round his neck until the day he died and was captivated by several ladies throughout his life, writing "The Nightingale" for Jenny Lind. He couldn't spell, was dyslexic, and a hypochondriac! Who was he?
6. After the publication of his first book of poems aptly titled, "Odes et Ballades," and dedicated to his wife, Adele, this French writer was given a pension by Louis XVIII. He was very promiscuous, having had many affairs, one of which was reputed to have been with the actress Sarah Bernhardt. During his exile on the Island of Guernsey, following the arrival of Napoleon III and the Paris massacres, he wrote his most famous novel, which has since been made into a very successful musical. His final words were "I see the black light." Who was he?
7. As she was mentally unstable, this English novelist and her husband formed the Hogarth Press in an attempt to give her some stability and save her from what she feared would be permanent insanity. Nevertheless, she committed suicide by drowning, having filled her pockets with large, heavy stones and jumping into a river. Her first novel, "The Voyage Out," appeared in 1915. Who was this unhappy lady?
8. This Scottish novelist was the youngest of nine children, having six sisters and two brothers. He wrote "My Lady Nicotine" in honour of smoking, a vice to which he was very partial and which contributed to his persistent cough. After the publication of his most famous novel, he had to make some hurried corrections when children were taking literally the thought that if they believed, they would be able to fly. Who was he?
9. A Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner, this troubled American author was described by James Joyce as "a big powerful peasant." As an ambulance driver, he was badly wounded in Italy during the First World War. His collection of short stories, "In our Time," was published in 1925. Who was he?
10. This Englishman gave up teaching after the success of his first novel, "The White Peacock." His most famous book became the subject of an obscenity trial more than thirty years after it was written. He died of tuberculosis in France at the age of 44, in the arms of the lady who had typed out his famous novel for him, the wife of his friend and fellow writer, Aldous Huxley. Who was he?
Source: Author
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Lanni before going online.
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