Meet Me at the Lake Quiz: 20 Questions on Plot, Character, and Theme

Test your knowledge of Carley Fortune's Meet Me at the Lake with this 20-question quiz covering plot, character motivation, theme, and synthesis. Whether you're preparing for a book club or just finished the novel, these questions will help you revisit key moments and deeper meanings. When you're done, check the answer key at the bottom, or explore the full book guide, questions and answers, and ending explained for more insights. Good luck!

(Note: Short-answer questions are marked with (Short answer).)

Plot and Sequence

1. What event brings Fern back to Brookbanks Resort at the start of the novel?

A) Her father's illness
B) Her mother's death
C) A job offer from Jamie
D) A wedding invitation

2. How does Will first arrive at the resort?

A) As a guest for a wedding
B) As a business consultant hired by Fern's mother
C) As a new staff member
D) As a delivery driver

3. (Short answer) What was the 'one-year promise' Fern and Will made?

4. What happens when Will fails to show up at the docks?

A) Fern leaves immediately, angry
B) Fern waits for hours and he never arrives
C) Jamie arrives to comfort her
D) Will sends a message explaining his absence

5. Why does Will leave abruptly during the end-of-summer dance?

A) He gets a job offer
B) His sister calls about their father
C) Sofia is sick with meningitis
D) He has a fight with Fern

6. (Short answer) What does Fern find in Will's cabin after he leaves?

7. What does Annabel reveal about Will's consultancy work?

A) He was paid by a third party
B) Will initiated it with Fern's mother
C) It was Jamie's idea
D) It was a coincidence

8. How does the novel end?

A) Fern sells the resort
B) Will proposes with his grandfather's ring
C) Fern moves to Toronto
D) Will leaves for Vancouver

Character Motivation

9. Why does Fern initially hide in the office, avoiding the dining room?

A) She is angry with the guests
B) She is grieving her mother's death
C) She is avoiding Jamie
D) She is preparing for a meeting

10. Why does Will decline to give Fern his contact information?

A) He is moving to another country
B) Because of Jamie, her boyfriend
C) He doesn't want a relationship
D) He lost his phone

11. (Short answer) What convinces Fern to keep the resort rather than sell it?

12. Why does Will abandon his art for a conventional career?

A) He loses interest in drawing
B) He fears becoming like his mother
C) He is pressured by his father
D) He needs more money

13. Why does Fern decide to give Will a second chance?

A) He apologizes profusely
B) Annabel reveals the truth about Sofia's illness and Will's initiative
C) Jamie encourages her
D) Whitney convinces her

Theme and Symbol

14. What does the fern symbolize throughout the novel?

A) Growth and new beginnings
B) The connection between Fern and Will, and her mother's legacy
C) The resort's financial recovery
D) Toronto's urban landscape

15. (Short answer) What does the dock at Brookbanks represent?

16. What does Maggie's diary represent?

A) A business record
B) A bridge between mother and daughter
C) A travel journal
D) A recipe book

17. What does the red dress symbolize?

A) Fern's fashion sense
B) Her mother's legacy and the dance tradition
C) Will's memory of Fern
D) The resort's history

Synthesis

18. (Short answer) How does the novel explore the theme of life not going as planned?

19. (Short answer) How do Maggie and Fern's experiences with motherhood compare?

20. (Short answer) The author says she gave Will her postpartum anxiety. How does this shape Will's character and his relationship with Fern?

Answer Key

1. B — Fern's mother, Maggie, died in a car accident in May, and Fern inherits the resort.

2. B — Will was hired by Fern's mother as a business consultant before her death.

3. They agreed to meet at the docks at Brookbanks Resort one year later, when Will would return for his father's wedding.

4. B — Fern waits for hours at the docks, but Will never arrives.

5. C — Will leaves because Sofia is sick with meningitis and is hospitalized.

6. She finds his sketchbook, including a drawing of her on the dock with a hat and bag.

7. B — Annabel reveals that Will initiated the consultancy work with Fern's mother, contradicting what he told Fern.

8. B — Will proposes with his grandfather's ring at the dock where they were supposed to meet ten years ago.

9. B — Fern is grieving her mother's death and avoids the dining room.

10. B — Will declines because of Jamie, Fern's boyfriend.

11. Reading her mother's diary and realizing her mother's dream for the resort.

12. B — Will fears becoming like his mother, who was selfish and critical, so he abandons art for a conventional career.

13. B — Annabel reveals the truth about Sofia's illness and that Will initiated the consultancy work.

14. B — The fern connects Fern and Will (Will paints a fern on the mural, Fern's signature latte art) and ties to her mother's legacy.

15. The dock represents the meeting place, the promise, home, and the family legacy.

16. B — Maggie's diary is a bridge between mother and daughter, revealing Maggie's love and dreams.

17. B — The red dress symbolizes her mother's legacy and the dance tradition.

18. The novel shows life not going as planned through Maggie's unplanned pregnancy, Will's abandoned art career, Fern's unexpected return to the resort, and the author's own note that this is the book's central theme.

19. Maggie becomes a single mother after Eric leaves; Fern chooses motherhood on her own terms in the epilogue. The author notes she wanted to show Fern forging her own path as a mother.

20. Will's postpartum anxiety shapes his fear of becoming like his mother, his reluctance to commit, and his guardedness. The author notes that Will's anxiety doesn't preclude him from being a wonderful parent, and that Fern and Will plan for support.