Do You Know Where These Classic Novels Are Set?
A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. With the summer travel season in mind, this week’s quiz highlights five classic 20th-century novels that are set in locations that were, still are or have become popular vacation destinations over the years. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last completed novel during his lifetime was “Tender Is the Night,” which was published in 1934. The book, about a young psychiatrist and his ailing wife, is set during the last days of the Jazz Age in which coastal European vacation spot?
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“Ship of Fools,” Katherine Anne Porter’s 1962 novel that took her 22 years to write and publish, is about a cruise ship full of disparate individuals bound for Germany in a time between the world wars. The ship departs from the major seaport town of Veracruz in which country?
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E.R. Braithwaite’s autobiographical 1959 novel “To Sir, With Love,” about a young teacher dealing with race and class in the postwar era, takes place in which national capital (and perpetual tourist magnet)?
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“The Old Man and the Sea” is Ernest Hemingway’s 1952 short novel that won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was mentioned by the Swedish Academy when he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature. Which country is home to the old man in the book — a place that was a popular tourist destination for Americans until the early 1960s?
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Ngaio Marsh’s 1943 crime thriller “Colour Scheme” is set during World War II in this scenic land — which had a huge tourism boom of its own in the early 21st century thanks to fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” books and their movie adaptations that were filmed here. Which country is it?