Born in the village of Thornton, Yorkshire, in 1818, Emily was the middle of the three novel-writing Brontë sisters, the others being Charlotte (born 1816) and Anne (born 1820). Her only published novel was "Wuthering Heights", which appeared in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell.
It tells of the tempestuous relationship between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Emily herself died in 1848, probably of tuberculosis, at the age of 30.
2. "Hard Times"
Answer: Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. "Hard Times" was his tenth novel, and first appeared in serial form between April and August 1854, in the weekly magazine "Household Words" which he himself edited. It is set in the fictional English town of Coketown, and contains trenchant criticism of the Utilitarian philosophy which promotes cold rationalism over compassion and imagination.
3. "Gulliver's Travels"
Answer: Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1667. He was ordained as a priest in 1694, but is best known for his satirical writings, of which "Gulliver's Travels" is the best known. The book is in four parts, each describing a voyage by its hero, Lemuel Gulliver.
These include Lilliput (a country of tiny people), Brobdingnag (a country of giants), the flying island of Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms (talking horses).
4. "Northanger Abbey"
Answer: Jane Austen
Jane Austen was born in 1775 in the English village of Steventon, where her father was rector. She began writing as a child, and her first published work was "Sense and Sensibility" (1811). "Northanger Abbey" was in fact written much earlier (around 1799) and was sold for publication in 1803, although in the event it did not appear in print until late 1817, six months after her early death.
The novel's heroine, Catherine Morland, is mocked for her obsession with the then-popular Gothic fiction of writers such as Ann Radcliffe, and her failure to distinguish between fact and fiction very nearly scuppers her chances of marrying the hero, Henry Tilney.
5. "Moby-Dick"
Answer: Herman Melville
The American writer Herman Melville was born in New York in 1819. His experiences as a sailor during the 1840s influenced much of his fiction. The book on which his modern reputation rests, "Moby-Dick, or, The Whale", was a failure when it was first published in 1851, but is now recognised as a masterpiece.
It tells of the voyages of the whaling ship Pequod under its master Captain Ahab, who is obsessed with killing the white sperm whale, Moby Dick, which has previously caused him to lose one of his legs.
6. "Vanity Fair"
Answer: William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta, India, in 1811, although he was sent back to school in England in 1816 after the death of his father. He married in 1836, and began work as a writer to support his family. His best-known novel is "Vanity Fair", a savagely witty satire of English society which tells of the scheming social climber, Becky Sharp, and her friend Amelia Sedley.
Although Becky Sharp is thoroughly amoral and manipulative, her wit and intelligence make her also one of the most enjoyable anti-heroines in English literature.
7. "Tom Jones"
Answer: Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was born in the English village of Sharpham, Somerset, in 1707. He moved to London and achieved early fame as a playwright, although his satirical writing often offended the authorities. He then trained to become a lawyer, while turning to the writing of novels.
His best novel, "Tom Jones", was published in 1749, and tells the story of the eponymous hero, who begins his life as a foundling and ends up happily married to the virtuous and beautiful Sophia Western. In between, he undergoes a series of picaresque adventures, many of which seem to involve him ending up in bed with various women, both young and old.
8. "The Scarlet Letter"
Answer: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1804. He began his writing career with mostly short stories, including the popular "Twice-Told Tales" (1837) and "Tanglewood Tales" (1853). "The Scarlet Letter" was published in 1850, and tells the story of Hester Prynne, who has been found guilty of committing adultery, and is punished by being forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her clothing, as a mark of her sin and shame.
She refuses to reveal the father of her child, Pearl, although by the end of the novel he is revealed to be the church minister, Arthur Dimmesdale.
9. "Don Quixote"
Answer: Miguel de Cervantes
The Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes was born in the town of Alcalá de Henares in 1547. As a young man he served in the Spanish naval infantry, and was seriously injured in the Battle of Lepanto (1571). In 1605 he published the first volume of "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha", with the second volume following in 1615.
It tells of a delusional Spanish nobleman who falls under the spell of mediaeval chivalric romances, and believes himself to be an heroic knight-errant. Accompanied by the rather more level-headed farmer, Sancho Panza, who he employs as his "squire" he sets out on a series of picaresque adventures.
The most famous of these involves attacking some windmills under the misapprehension that they are a group of giants.
10. "The Count of Monte Cristo"
Answer: Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas was born in the small French town of Villiers-Cotterets in 1802. He began his writing career as a dramatist, writing a number of very successful plays, before turning his hand to novels. He was a prolific and successful writer, who is probably best known for his swashbuckling romance, "The Three Musketeers" (1844). Almost as popular is "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1845), which tells the story of a sailor named Edmond Dantès, who on the eve of his own wedding is wrongly accused of treason and thrown into jail.
After many years in prison, he escapes, and sets out to take his revenge on those who had him imprisoned.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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