Good Spirits Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of the Book

Think you know every detail of Harriet and Nolan's haunting love story? This 20-question quiz covers the entire arc of Good Spirits—from the first appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past to the redefinition of unfinished business. Questions are grouped into four sections: plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. Each question includes a multiple-choice or short-answer format, and every answer is explained briefly in the key below. No spoilers beyond the final chapter.

Plot and Sequence Questions

What date does Chapter One of Good Spirits begin on?
- A. November 28th
- B. December 1st
- C. December 15th
- D. December 24th
What object does young Harriet steal from the hotel train display during the memory in Chapter Five?
- A. A porcelain doll
- B. A small wooden boat
- C. A brass bell
- D. A silver thimble
What event do Nolan and Harriet witness when they travel to the fishing boat in Chapter Thirty-Two?
- A. Nolan catching his first fish
- B. A Christmas celebration with his crew
- C. The day Nolan died in a storm
- D. Nolan proposing to a woman
What item does Nolan find and then hide in the supply closet of the Crow's Nest in Chapter Twenty-Six?
- A. A locket containing a photograph
- B. A broken compass
- C. A handwritten letter from his mother
- D. A tin of fig jam
Who appears in Isabella's waiting-room office in Chapter Thirty-Eight to help explain the truth to Nolan?
- A. Harriet's mother Donna
- B. Sasha
- C. Aunt Matilda
- D. The Ghost of Christmas Present
What gift does Nolan give Harriet during their early Christmas celebration in Chapter Thirty-Five?
- A. A pair of knitted mittens
- B. A scarf embroidered with his initials
- C. A music box from the Crow's Nest
- D. A jar of lemon drops
Where does Nolan take Harriet to make amends for his outburst in Chapter Twelve?
- A. A Christmas market in Baltimore
- B. An ice-skating rink
- C. The hotel with the train display
- D. A beach on Cape Cod
Who interrupts Nolan and Harriet's peaceful morning at the antiques shop in Chapter Twenty-Four, bringing a warning about the Christmas Eve deadline?
- A. Sasha
- B. Isabella
- C. Samantha
- D. Darryl the postman

Character Motivation Questions

Why does Harriet initially refuse to take Nolan's hand and begin the haunting in Chapter Two?
- A. She is afraid of dying
- B. She demands proof of his ghostliness and wants to speak to his supervisor
- C. She thinks he is a burglar and calls the police
- D. She has no memory of any wrongdoing
Why does Nolan keep the compass a secret after discovering it in the supply closet?
- A. He believes the compass is cursed
- B. He fears that claiming the compass will end his time with Harriet
- C. He wants to return it to its original owner
- D. He does not recognize the compass as his own
Why does Harriet agree to help Nolan move on in Chapter Fifteen, even though she has developed strong feelings for him?
- A. She hopes he will stay if she helps him
- B. She believes she cannot be selfish and must let him go
- C. She wants to prove her worth to Isabella
- D. She thinks Sasha will be angry if she refuses
Why does Nolan refuse Betty's offer to reassign Harriet to another ghost in Chapter Fourteen?
- A. He fears the bureaucratic consequences
- B. He realizes that Harriet may hold the key to his own unfinished business
- C. He wants to prove Isabella wrong
- D. He enjoys the challenge of a difficult assignment
Why does Harriet choose estrangement from her family at the winter gala in Chapter Twenty-Nine?
- (Short-answer) Because she finally accepts herself and refuses to keep seeking her mother's approval.

Theme and Symbol Questions

What does the compass primarily symbolize by the end of the novel?
- A. Wealth and status
- B. The unbreakable connection between Nolan and Harriet
- C. Nolan's career as a fisherman
- D. Harriet's guilt over the train-display theft
What does the candle in the window represent, as seen in Nolan's memory of his family tradition?
- A. A signal for a secret meeting
- B. Hope and the tradition of guiding loved ones home
- C. A reminder of Christmas gifts left behind
- D. The loneliness of the afterlife
The mistletoe that magically spreads across the ceiling of the Crow's Nest symbolizes what?
- A. The pressure of holiday commercialism
- B. Magic as an emotional expression of Nolan's feelings for Harriet
- C. Harriet's desire to redecorate the shop
- D. A curse placed on the antiques store
Fig jam appears as a recurring symbol in the story. What does it most often represent?
- A. Wealth and privilege
- B. Memory and the beautiful mess of human connection
- C. Harriet's baking skills
- D. The afterlife's bureaucratic rules

Synthesis Questions

How does the novel redefine the concept of "unfinished business" by the final chapter?
- (Short-answer) It redefines unfinished business as love that keeps a person tethered to the world, not a task or object to complete.
In Chapter Thirty-Eight, Isabella reveals that Nolan and Harriet are soulmates destined to be together. What is the most significant consequence of this revelation for the plot?
- A. It confirms that the haunting was a bureaucratic error
- B. It reframes the entire haunting as a purposeful journey designed to reunite them
- C. It means Nolan must complete a new set of assignments
- D. It explains why Harriet's mother dislikes Nolan
How does Harriet's relationship with Nolan change her relationship with herself over the course of the novel?
- (Short-answer) She learns to accept herself, value her own worth, and stop seeking validation from her mother and sister.

Answer Key

#	Answer	Explanation
1	B – December 1st	Chapter One opens with Harriet tripping over her cat Oliver on the morning of December 1st, before she receives the impersonal gala invitation.
2	B – A small wooden boat	In the hotel memory, young Harriet steals a small wooden boat from the train display after her mother scolds her for playing with the trains.
3	C – The day Nolan died in a storm	The fishing-boat memory reveals the stormy day Nolan drowned after his boat sank; Harriet also falls overboard during this trip.
4	B – A broken compass	Nolan finds his own broken compass hidden in the supply closet and panics, hiding it again rather than revealing it to Harriet.
5	C – Aunt Matilda	Harriet's deceased aunt appears in the waiting room with Builín the cat and, together with Isabella, explains that Harriet was always Nolan's unfinished business.
6	B – A scarf embroidered with his initials	During their early Christmas celebration, Nolan gives Harriet a scarf with his initials; she gives him the compass in return.
7	B – An ice-skating rink	Nolan takes Harriet ice skating to apologize for his harsh words after the fig-jam closet scene.
8	B – Isabella	Isabella appears at the shop in Chapter Twenty-Four to warn Nolan that his Christmas Eve deadline is approaching and that failure will have consequences for Harriet.
9	B – She demands proof and wants to speak to his supervisor	Skeptical and defiant, Harriet asks Nolan to prove he is a ghost and insists on talking to his manager before she agrees to participate.
10	B – He fears claiming the compass will end his time with Harriet	Nolan admits in Chapter Thirty-One that he hid the compass because he did not want the assignment to end and did not want to leave her.
11	B – She believes she cannot be selfish and must let him go	Despite her growing feelings, Harriet resolves to help Nolan move on because she cannot bear to be selfish with him.
12	B – He realizes that Harriet may hold the key to his own unfinished business	After accidentally traveling into his own past, Nolan decides to continue the assignment alone because Harriet may be the key to his personal unfinished business.
13	Because she finally accepts herself and refuses to keep seeking her mother's approval	At the gala, Harriet lists the qualities she loves about herself, refuses the family photo, and leaves with Nolan—a decisive break from seeking approval.
14	B – The unbreakable connection between Nolan and Harriet	When Nolan touches the compass in Chapter Thirty-Five, it points at Harriet, confirming she is the key to moving him forward.
15	B – Hope and the tradition of guiding loved ones home	The candle in the window is a family tradition meant to guide sailors home; Harriet lights one while waiting for Nolan's return.
16	B – Magic as an emotional expression of Nolan's feelings for Harriet	The mistletoe grows magically after Nolan kisses Harriet, with his emotions causing the magic to manifest visibly.
17	B – Memory and the beautiful mess of human connection	Fig jam appears after a chaotic memory trip and becomes a symbol of the sticky, imperfect, precious moments that define their bond.
18	It redefines unfinished business as love that keeps a person tethered to the world, not a task or object to complete.	The novel's climax reveals that Nolan's true unfinished business was never the compass but Harriet herself; love itself is what kept him bound.
19	B – It reframes the entire haunting as a purposeful journey designed to reunite them	Isabella explains that every coincidence—the boat, the jam, the songs—was engineered to bring Nolan and Harriet into the same time.
20	She learns to accept herself, value her own worth, and stop seeking validation from her mother and sister.	Through Nolan's unconditional acceptance and her own brave choices, Harriet moves from self-doubt to self-acceptance and chooses authentic love over family approval.

Want to discuss the book in more detail? Check out the full summary and analysis of Good Spirits or browse our frequently asked questions and the ending explained guide.