Strangers in Time Quiz – 20 Questions to Test Your Reading
How well do you remember the twists of David Baldacci's Strangers in Time? This quiz covers the entire novel: plot sequence, character motivations, themes, and synthesis questions. Challenge yourself and then check the answer key with explanations.
For more discussion, see our questions and answers page or the ending explained.
Questions
1. What does Charlie Matters plan to steal at the beginning of the novel? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. A book from a library
- B. Shoes from St. Saviour’s School
- C. Money from a shop
- D. Food from a market
2. Where does Molly Wakefield first encounter Charlie? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. At The Book Keep
- B. On a bus to Chelsea
- C. Near her home in London
- D. At St. Saviour’s School
3. What does Charlie discover inside Ignatius Oliver’s locked room? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. A stash of gold coins
- B. A coded typewriter and a hollow book
- C. A map of German positions
- D. A hidden radio transmitter
4. What happens to Eddie Gray during the attempted robbery? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. He runs away and joins the army
- B. He is arrested by the police
- C. He is killed by a lorry
- D. He escapes with Lonzo
5. How does Ignatius Oliver fake his death during the police ambush? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. He jumps into the river
- B. He uses a blank gun and a blood capsule
- C. He is shot but survives in hospital
- D. He hides in a bombed building
6. What ultimately happens to Molly’s father, Herbert Wakefield? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. He dies in a bombing raid
- B. He kills three British soldiers and dies in a car crash
- C. He goes to Cornwall and stays with the doctors
- D. He is arrested and executed
7. Where does Molly finally find her mother? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. At the family home in Chelsea
- B. At the Beneficial Institute in Cornwall
- C. In a London shelter
- D. At the Tinsdales’ estate
8. How does Ignatius Oliver die at the end of the novel? (Plot/Sequence)
- A. He is shot by Cedric
- B. He is killed by a V‑2 rocket
- C. He dies of a heart attack
- D. He drowns in the Thames
9. Why does Charlie steal from the bookshop in the early chapters? (Character Motivation)
- A. He wants to impress Lonzo and Eddie
- B. He is hungry and needs shoes for the winter
- C. He is paid by a stranger to retrieve a book
- D. He is looking for a specific coded message
10. Why does Molly return to London in 1944? (Character Motivation)
- A. To find her missing father
- B. To volunteer at a military hospital -- C. She was evacuated and the time has come to go home
- D. To attend a boarding school
11. Why does Ignatius Oliver become a double agent for the British? (Character Motivation)
- A. He is blackmailed by the Germans
- B. He wants revenge for his wife’s death
- C. He does it to protect his country after his wife’s betrayal
- D. He is offered a large sum of money
12. What motivates Lonzo Rossi to try to enlist in the army? (Character Motivation)
- A. He wants a steady salary and food
- B. He feels guilty after Eddie’s death and sees no other future
- C. He is a patriotic orphan who wants to fight
- D. The police force him to join
13. Why does Imogen Oliver commit suicide? (Character Motivation)
- A. She cannot finish her novel
- B. She is overcome with guilt over spying for Germany
- C. She is suffering from an incurable disease
- D. She is forced by the German handler Cedric
14. What does the blank journal symbolize for Charlie? (Theme/Symbol)
- A. His lost childhood
- B. The unknown future and possibility for change
- C. The emptiness of war
- D. His failure to keep a promise
15. The epigraph of the novel quotes Santayana: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” How does this theme appear in the story? (Theme/Symbol)
- A. No character finds lasting peace
- B. The war’s violence continues until the novel’s final pages
- C. Charlie is killed before the end
- D. The epigraph is only decorative
16. What is the significance of the title Strangers in Time? (Theme/Symbol)
- A. Characters meet across different historical eras
- B. War makes strangers of people who could have been friends
- C. The story has multiple timelines
- D. It refers to the German spies in London
17. What does the “Honourable” title on Charlie’s jacket suggest? (Theme/Symbol)
- A. He is from a noble family
- B. He has the potential for honour despite his survival‑driven actions
- C. He is a thief by nature
- D. He is respected by everyone in the story
18. How do Charlie and Molly complement each other as characters? (Synthesis)
- A. Charlie is daring, while Molly is timid
- B. Molly brings education and medical skills, Charlie brings street knowledge and survival instincts
- C. Both are wealthy but choose different paths
- D. They are both orphans from the start and compete for attention
19. What role does The Book Keep play in the novel? (Synthesis)
- A. It serves as a hiding place and refuge for the children
- B. It is a front for Oliver’s espionage activities
- C. It represents the preservation of culture and stories
- D. All of the above
20. How does the war affect the characters’ moral choices? (Synthesis)
- A. It makes everyone more honest and patriotic
- B. It forces characters to lie, steal, and betray for survival or the greater good
- C. It has no effect on their personal ethics
- D. It makes all characters cynical and selfish
Answer Key
1. B. Charlie plans to steal shoes from St. Saviour’s School because he cannot afford them. (Chapter 2)
2. C. Molly spots Charlie hiding behind a tree near her Chelsea home and offers him food. (Chapter 17)
3. B. Charlie finds a strange machine with two sets of letter keys and a hollow book from The Book Keep marked “Conceal.” (Chapter 47)
4. C. During the break‑in, a lorry strikes and kills both the pursuing constable and Eddie. (Chapter 27)
5. B. Oliver uses a blank gun and a blood capsule to stage his death and allow Cedric to escape with false intelligence. (Chapter 78)
6. B. Herbert Wakefield murders the three soldiers who assaulted his wife, then dies in a car crash while fleeing police. (Chapter 88)
7. B. Molly visits her mother, Eloise, at the Beneficial Institute in Cornwall. (Chapter 83)
8. B. While running toward a shelter, Oliver is struck directly by a V‑2 rocket. (Chapter 89)
9. B. Charlie is a hungry orphan in need of shoes and basic survival items. He steals biscuits, money, and a blank book. (Chapters 4–5)
10. C. Molly returns to London in 1944 after being evacuated under Operation Pied Piper, knowing her family is still there. (Chapter 12)
11. C. After learning that his wife Imogen spied for Germany, Oliver cooperates with British intelligence to feed false information and protect his country. (Chapter 79)
12. B. Lonzo feels guilty over Eddie’s death and, with nowhere to go, attempts to enlist as a way out. (Chapter 30)
13. B. Imogen cannot live with what she did as a German spy. She jumps off a cliff in Cornwall. (Chapters 64–65, 86)
14. B. Oliver gives Charlie the blank journal, and Charlie gradually sees it as a place to record his thoughts and a symbol of hope. (Chapters 11, 73)
15. B. Even after major battles, bombs continue to fall; Oliver is killed by a V‑2 in the final pages, showing the war never truly ends for the characters.
16. B. The epigraph by Yeats suggests that strangers are simply friends not yet met. In the novel, war creates distance, but Charlie, Molly, and Oliver form an unlikely bond.
17. B. Oliver explains that Charlie is called “Honourable” because he has the potential for honour, even though he sometimes steals to survive. (Chapter 11, 25)
18. B. Molly has medical training and education from her evacuation; Charlie knows London’s streets and how to get by. Together they solve mysteries and support each other.
19. D. The Book Keep is a physical refuge, a front for Oliver’s spy work, and a storehouse of literature – all three roles are important.
20. B. Charlie lies and steals to feed himself and his grandmother; Oliver spies and deceives to atone for his wife’s betrayal. The war blurs moral lines.
Return to the book overview or discuss the story on our questions page.