1. Which of these is the correct opening to Anna Karenina?

   1. "All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”

   2. “All unhappy families are alike, but each happy family is happy in its own way”

   3. “All Russian families are unhappy, but unhappy families are not all Russian”

   4. “All unhappy families are occasionally happy, but only under the influence”

2. "<i>What possessed us</i>? We were so happy! Why, then, did we take the stake of all we had and place it all on this outrageous gamble of having a child?” Said which disillusioned parent?

   1. Harriet in The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing

   2. Eva in We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

   3. Michael Henchard in The Mayor of Casterbridge

   4. David Melrose in Some Hope by Edward St Aubyn

3. Which of these did Oedipus not do?

   1. Kill his father

   2. Sleep with his mother

   3. Answer the Riddle of the Sphinx

   4. Poke out his own eyes

4. In Jane Eyre, what is the name of Mr Rochester’s first wife, who is locked in the attic?

   1. Jean Rhys

   2. Eliza Reed

   3. Bessie Lee

   4. Bertha Mason

5. What happens to brother and sister John and Franny in John Irving’s novel The Hotel New Hampshire?

   1. They have sex

   2. They kill each other

   3. They murder their parents

   4. They set up rival B&Bs

6. What is the name of the family in Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, who deal variously with depression, jealousy, paranoia and dementia?

   1. The Durstons

   2. The Lamberts

   3. The Osbornes

   4. The Longbottoms

7. Where is Harry Potter forced to sleep by his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys?

   1. On his broomstick

   2. In the attic

   3. Under the stairs

   4. In a cauldron

8. Who exploded onto the literary scene with the debut novel The Virgin Suicides, in which five sisters all commit suicide within a year of each other?

   1. Rachel Cusk

   2. Jeffrey Eugenides

   3. Jonathan Safran Foer

   4. Virginia Andrews

9. With whom is Phèdre in love with in Racine’s play of the same name?

   1. Her stepson Hippolyte

   2. Her husband Thésée

   3. God

   4. Her sister Ariane

10. In which Dickens novel is a daughter, Florence, cruelly neglected by her father?

    1. Oliver Twist

    2. Dombey and Son

    3. Great Expectations

    4. Bleak House

11. What was Augusten Burroughs forced to do after legal action was brought against him over Running with Scissors, which tells of his unusual upbringing?

    1. Change the title to Walking Carefully with Scissors

    2. Call it “a book” rather than “a memoir” in the author’s note

    3. Apologise to Oprah Winfrey and her audience on prime time TV

    4. Go to prison

12. What’s up with Carrie’s mother in Stephen King’s Carrie?

    1. She’s an alien

    2. She has telekinetic powers

    3. She’s a fanatical Christian

    4. She has six fingers

13. "He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong." Which dysfunctional father?

    1. Darth Vader

    2. Willy Loman

    3. Rabbit Angstrom

    4. Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov

Solutions

1:A, 2:B, 3:D, 4:D, 5:A, 6:B, 7:C, 8:B, 9:A, 10:B, 11:B, 12:C, 13:B

Scores

1. 3 and above.

   Shocking, and after all we've given you! We're throwing you off the books site and changing the locks.

2. 7 and above.

   Borderline. I don't know whether to give you a book deal or a book token

3. 10 and above.

   Pretty healthy. Shame you'll never get a book deal.

4. 13 and above.

   A perfect diagnosis. Either you don't have children, or you neglect them terribly in favour of books.