Small Pleasures Quiz: 20 Questions on Clare Chambers' Novel

Test your knowledge of Clare Chambers' Small Pleasures with this 20-question quiz. The questions span the novel's plot, characters, themes, and larger ideas, and they draw on the full arc of Jean Swinney's investigation into Gretchen Tilbury's claim of a virgin birth. When you finish, check the answer key at the bottom for brief explanations. For deeper analysis, see the book overview, questions and answers, or the ending explained.

Note: the quiz assumes you have read the entire novel, including the prologue and afterword.

Good luck!

Plot and Sequence Questions (1–8)

1. What event opens the novel?

A) A train crash in thick fog

B) A fire at a nursing home

C) A newspaper competition

D) A wedding reception

2. What assignment does Jean Swinney receive at the North Kent Echo?

(Short answer)

3. What is the name of the nursing home where Gretchen Tilbury was a patient in 1946?

A) St. Cecilia's Nursing and Convalescent Home

B) Anselm House

C) The Grange

D) Westbury Park

4. Which test result initially seems to support Gretchen's claim of parthenogenesis?

A) A skin graft that takes successfully

B) Identical blood groups between mother and daughter

C) A DNA test showing no paternal contribution

D) A positive pregnancy test

5. Who does Jean eventually discover could be Margaret's biological father?

A) Howard Tilbury

B) Dr. Hilary Endicott

C) Victor, Alice Halfyard's nephew

D) A patient at St. Cecilia's

6. What happens to Gretchen and Howard's marriage?

A) They divorce amicably

B) Gretchen leaves Howard to live with Martha

C) Howard leaves Gretchen for Jean

D) They stay together but live apart

7. What happens to Jean's mother during the novel?

A) She dies in a car accident

B) She falls and is hospitalized, then develops confusion

C) She moves to Kenya to live with Dorrie

D) She recovers fully and becomes more independent

8. What is the outcome of the skin graft test performed on Gretchen and Margaret?

A) It succeeds, proving parthenogenesis

B) It fails, disproving parthenogenesis

C) It is inconclusive

D) It is never performed

Character Motivation Questions (9–13)

9. Why does Gretchen agree to undergo medical testing and share her story with the newspaper?

(Short answer)

10. Why does Jean initially hesitate to publish the Tilbury story before the test results are complete?

A) She fears losing her job

B) She believes Gretchen is lying

C) She wants to protect the family and ensure accuracy

D) She is jealous of Gretchen

11. Why does Howard stay with Gretchen despite the lack of physical intimacy in their marriage?

(Short answer)

12. Why does Martha persuade Gretchen to take triple doses of sleeping pills at St. Cecilia's?

A) To help Gretchen sleep

B) To make Gretchen dependent on her

C) To stage a suicide pact

D) To punish Gretchen

13. Why does Jean decide to keep the truth about Victor a secret from Gretchen and Howard?

A) She is afraid of being sued

B) She wants to protect Margaret from the painful truth

C) She plans to use it for a future story

D) She does not believe it is true

Theme and Symbol Questions (14–17)

14. What does the rabbit Jemimah symbolize in the novel?

A) The innocence and vulnerability of childhood

B) The burden of caregiving

C) The impossibility of miracles

D) The constraints of marriage

15. What does the emerald and opal brooch, repaired by Howard, represent?

A) The Tilburys' marriage

B) The connection between Jean and Howard

C) Gretchen's lost youth

D) The newspaper's integrity

16. What does the iron lung, as described in the novel, symbolize?

A) Medical progress

B) The confinement and restriction of women's lives

C) The power of faith

D) The randomness of fate

**17. What do the