1. In Kate Atkinson's Women's prize for fiction-shortlisted novel Life After Life, the family dog Trixie discovers what?

   1. A corpse

   2. A bone

   3. A manuscript

   4. A portal through time

2. Which fictional character has a pet dragon called Norbert, and in which book?

   1. José Arcadio Buendía in One Hundred Years of Solitude

   2. Hagrid in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

   3. Titus Groan in the Gormenghast trilogy

   4. Gibreel Farishta in The Satanic Verses

3. Who has a pet owl called Archimedes which perches on its owner's shoulder muttering 'there is no owl'?

   1. Merlyn in The Once and Future King

   2. Laocoön in the Aeneid

   3. Epistemon in Rabelais' Pantagruel

   4. Hermione in the Harry Potter novels

4. Henning Mankell's melancholic Swedish crime-fighter Wallander has a faithful dog who he turns to for comfort while unravelling murderous plots in Ystad. What is the dog's name?

   1. Gloomi

   2. Douri

   3. Jussi

   4. Lassi

5. Which Dickens character, in which book, owns birds named Hope, Joy, Youth, Peace, Rest, Life, Dust, Ashes, Waste, Want, Ruin, Despair, Madness, Death, Cunning, Folly, Words, Wigs, Rags, Sheepskin, Plunder, Precedent, Jargon, Gammon, and Spinach?

   1. John Jarndyce in Bleak House

   2. Miss Flite in Bleak House

   3. 'Little' Nell Trent in The Old Curiosity Shop

   4. Fagin in Oliver Twist

6. In a Kestrel for a Knave, which became the 1969 film Kes, what happens to Billy Casper's pet bird of prey?

   1. He dies

   2. He is confiscated by the headmaster

   3. He flies away

   4. He joins a circus

7. In AM Homes's novel May We Be Forgiven what are the names of the family pets adopted by protagonist Harry after his brother's incarceration?

   1. Jessie and Crumpet

   2. Tessie and Muffin

   3. Patsy and Scone

   4. Cassie and Teacake

8. What colour is the female snake Nagini, who in the Harry Potter series is owned by He Who Must Not Be Named?

   1. Blue

   2. Green

   3. Yellow

   4. Black

9. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, 15-year-old Christopher comes across his neighbour's dog, impaled on a garden fork. What breed is the dog?

   1. A poodle

   2. A labrador

   3. A cocker spaniel

   4. An Irish wolfhound

10. Pugnax, a dog in Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day, has what unusual talent?

    1. He can dance the tango

    2. He can pilot balloons

    3. He can read

    4. He can decrypt government codes

Solutions

1:A, 2:B, 3:A, 4:C, 5:B, 6:A, 7:B, 8:B, 9:A, 10:C

Scores

1. 3 and above.

   Very poor. You have been reported to the RSPCA for neglect of pets in literature

2. 7 and above.

   Not bad. You've read a few books, and you don't actually hate animals, but you don't really love them, do you?

3. 10 and above.

   Woof woof, you're good