Quiz My Darling Girl Jennifer McMahon

My Darling Girl: 20-Question Quiz on Plot, Characters, and Themes

Quiz: Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8) 1. What event first prompts Alison to travel to New York to see her mother?

  • A) A letter from her mother

  • B) A phone call from Paul, her mother's assistant

  • C) A visit from her brother Ben

  • D) A Christmas card from her mother

  • Answer: B 2. When Alison visits her mother in the hospital, what request does her mother make?

  • A) That Alison take her to Cape Cod

  • B) That Alison bring her the stone from Bobbi

  • C) That Alison allow her to stay at Alison's house for hospice care

  • D) That Alison forgive her for past cruelty

  • Answer: C 3. What object does Olivia find among her grandmother's belongings that later becomes central to the plot?

  • A) A glass angel ornament

  • B) A heart-shaped quartz crystal

  • C) A blue jay feather

  • D) A wax disc with a symbol

  • Answer: B 4. What does Alison discover her mother doing in the living room during the night after Mavis arrives?

  • A) Watching a Christmas movie

  • B) Trying to call Bobbi on the TV remote

  • C) Opening the window in the freezing cold

  • D) Singing a nursery rhyme to Olivia

  • Answer: B 5. In her mother's Woodstock house, what does Alison find in the closet behind the quilt?

  • A) A stack of paintings by her father

  • B) Two shoeboxes labeled BEN and ALISON containing hair, teeth, and a wax disc

  • C) A journal detailing her mother's affair with Bobbi

  • D) A one-way flight ticket to Belize

  • Answer: B 6. What does Alison do with the stone in the woods near her childhood home?

  • A) She throws it into a lake

  • B) She buries it under a tree

  • C) She performs a binding ritual and drops it into the well

  • D) She gives it to Izzy for safekeeping

  • Answer: C 7. What does Izzy do at the end of the novel that undoes Alison's ritual?

  • A) She destroys the stone

  • B) She retrieves the stone from the well and speaks an unbinding spell

  • C) She gives the stone to Mark

  • D) She hides the stone in her room

  • Answer: B 8. What happens to Paul after his confrontation with Mavis?

  • A) He moves to Belize

  • B) He dies in a car accident

  • C) He goes to the police

  • D) He returns to Woodstock

  • Answer: B

Quiz: Character Motivation (Questions 9–13) 9. Short Answer: Why does Alison agree to let her mother stay with her family?

  • Answer: Alison hopes for reconciliation and forgiveness, and Mark encourages her to see it as a chance to heal old wounds. 10. Short Answer: Why does Ben refuse to visit his mother?

  • Answer: Ben believes their mother is abusive and has not changed, and he blames her for their father's suicide. 11. Short Answer: Why does Alison invent a therapist named Carla?

  • Answer: She invents Carla to appease Mark and hide her growing belief that her mother is possessed by a demon. 12. Short Answer: Why does Mark arrange for Alison to go to a trauma clinic?

  • Answer: Mark believes Alison is unstable and a danger to herself and the children, especially after seeing her draw protective marks on Olivia. 13. Short Answer: Why does Izzy agree to help Alison after initially being skeptical?

  • Answer: Izzy agrees because she wants to protect her sister Olivia and is willing to believe her mother's fears, even though she doubts the demon theory.

Quiz: Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17) 14. What does the stone primarily symbolize in the novel?

  • A) Alison's artistic success

  • B) The vessel for Azha and a connection to Bobbi

  • C) The mother's love for her children

  • D) The family's Christmas traditions

  • Answer: B 15. What does the blue jay represent in Alison's childhood memory?

  • A) Her father's artistic legacy

  • B) The guilt and shame of a cruel act she kept secret

  • C) The freedom she felt in the woods

  • D) The demon's first appearance

  • Answer: B 16. What does the Rat King symbolize in the story?

  • A) The Nutcracker ballet's villain

  • B) The demonic threat and the transformation of ordinary things into menace

  • C) Olivia's fear of the dark

  • D) The family's pet rat

  • Answer: B 17. What does Alison's binding spell represent?

  • A) Her attempt to control her mother's illness

  • B) Her desperate effort to protect her family and break the generational curse

  • C) Her desire to become a famous artist

  • D) Her rejection of her mother's love

  • Answer: B

Quiz: Synthesis (Questions 18–20) 18. Short Answer: How does the novel explore the theme of identity?

  • Answer: The novel explores identity through the demon Azha's possession of Mavis, the mother's dual nature (good vs. bad), and the question of who is truly in control—Alison, her mother, or the demon. 19. Short Answer: What is the significance of the title My Darling Girl?

  • Answer: The title reflects the mother's manipulative endearment, the bond between mother and daughter, and the way love and cruelty intertwine in their relationship. 20. Short Answer: How does the ending challenge the reader's understanding of reality?

  • Answer: The ending suggests that Izzy may be possessed by Azha, leaving ambiguity about whether the demon was ever real or whether Alison's fears were a product of mental illness, forcing readers to question what is true.

Answer Key and Explanations

1. B – Paul calls Alison to tell her that her mother has stage four pancreatic cancer and is asking for her. (Outline, Chapter 1)

2. C – In the hospital, Mavis asks Alison to consider letting her stay for hospice care. (Outline, Chapter 2)

3. B – Olivia finds a heart-shaped quartz crystal that Alison recognizes as Bobbi's stone. (Outline, Chapter 9)

4. B – Alison finds her mother in the living room staring at static TV and trying to call Bobbi on the remote. (Outline, Chapter 10)

5. B – In the closet, Alison finds two shoeboxes labeled BEN and ALISON containing hair, teeth, and a wax disc with a symbol. (Outline, Chapter 29)

6. C – Alison performs a binding ritual and drops the stone into the well. (Outline, Chapter 40)

7. B – Izzy retrieves the stone and speaks an unbinding spell, revealing she is the new host. (Outline, Chapter 42)

8. B – Paul dies in a car accident after leaving the house. (Outline, Chapter 21)

9. Alison's decision is driven by a desire for reconciliation and Mark's encouragement. (Outline, Chapter 3)

10. Ben's refusal stems from his belief that their mother is abusive and unchanged. (Outline, Chapter 5)

11. Alison invents Carla to hide her demon theory from Mark. (Outline, Chapter 24)

12. Mark arranges the clinic because he believes Alison is a danger to herself and the children. (Outline, Chapter 38)

13. Izzy agrees to help because she wants to protect Olivia and is willing to trust her mother's fears. (Outline, Chapter 35)

14. B – The stone is repeatedly described as a vessel for Azha and a link to Bobbi. (Outline, Chapters 9, 31, 40)

15. B – The blue jay is tied to Alison's childhood guilt and her mother's impossible knowledge of it. (Outline, Chapter 13)

16. B – The Rat King appears as a menacing figure and symbolizes the demonic threat. (Outline, Chapters 11, 17)

17. B – The binding spell is Alison's attempt to protect her family and break the curse. (Outline, Chapter 40)

18. The theme of identity is central, with the demon's possession and the mother's dual nature. (Outline, Chapters 20, 23)

19. The title reflects the manipulative endearment and the complex mother-daughter bond. (Outline, Chapter 2)

20. The ending leaves ambiguity about whether the demon is real or a product of Alison's mental state, challenging the reader's perception. (Outline, Chapter 42)

For more discussion, see the book overview, questions and answers, and the ending explained.

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