# The Book of Lost Hours Quiz: 20 Questions on Plot, Characters, and Themes
How to Use This Quiz
This quiz spans the full arc of Hayley Gelfuso's The Book of Lost Hours, from Lisavet Levy's escape into the time space in 1938 to Amelia Duquesne's discovery of her true parentage in 1965. Questions are grouped into four sections: plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. Try answering without notes first, then check the answer key at the bottom.
If you need to refresh your memory, revisit the book overview, browse the questions and answers, or read the ending explained.
Plot & Sequence
1. What object does Ezekiel Levy press into Lisavet's hands before pushing her through the door into the time space?
A. A brass pocket watch
B. A book of poetry
C. A revolver
D. A letter from America
2. In what year does Lisavet Levy first enter the time space?
(Short answer)
3. Who is the ghostly figure who teaches Lisavet to time walk and becomes her closest companion in the time space?
A. Azrael
B. Ernest Duquesne
C. Jack Dillinger
D. The bitter nobleman
4. What object does Amelia find Anton Stepanov wrapping in the time space during her second visit?
A. A book with a dark blue cover and a flower
B. A brass pocket watch
C. A revolver
D. A handkerchief embroidered with forget-me-nots
5. What does Lisavet do with her infant daughter Amelia?
(Short answer)
6. What new identity does Lisavet Levy adopt after being released from confinement in Washington, DC?
A. Moira Donnelly
B. Shelley Watts
C. Elaina Duquesne
D. Edith Gravel
7. Who kills Jack Dillinger?
A. Moira Donnelly
B. Amelia Duquesne
C. Ernest Duquesne
D. Anton Stepanov
8. What does Lisavet do to Azrael in the final chapters of the novel?
A. Erases his memory and pushes him off a cliff two thousand years in the past
B. Leaves him trapped in the collapsing time space
C. Brings him back to life in the real world
D. Forgets him as the time space collapses around her
Character Motivation
9. Why does Lisavet erase herself from Ernest's memories in Chapter 8?
A. To protect him from Jack and the department
B. Because she no longer loves him
C. Because Azrael warned her against him
D. Because she wants to keep the book of memories for herself
10. Why does Amelia agree to become a timekeeper for the TRP?
A. Moira threatens to have her institutionalized
B. She wants to avenge her uncle's death
C. She wants to recover the book of lost memories
D. She is fascinated by time travel
11. Why does Ernest lie to Jack, claiming a Russian timekeeper killed Lisavet?
A. To protect Lisavet from being captured by the department
B. To gain Jack's trust and a promotion
C. Because he wants the book of memories for himself
D. Because Jack ordered him to fabricate the report
12. Why does Moira kill Vasily Stepanov during the interrogation?
A. To protect her daughter Amelia's secret
B. Because he stole her book of memories
C. Because Jack ordered her to
D. Because he attacked Ernest
13. Why does Lisavet push Amelia into the chasm in Chapter 22?
A. To send her to safety in an alternate timeline
B. To trap her in the time space forever
C. To punish her for confronting her about her lies
D. To keep her away from Anton
Theme & Symbol
14. What do forget-me-nots symbolize throughout the novel?
A. The rebel movement and memory preservation
B. The TRP's authority
C. The Nazi regime's persecution
D. The time space itself
15. What does the pocket watch primarily represent in the novel?
A. Access to the time space and timekeeper authority
B. Romantic love and commitment
C. Wealth and social status
D. The Levy family's clockmaking heritage only
16. What does Azrael mean by being Forgotten?
(Short answer)
17. What is the chasm that opens in the time space?
A. A hole in space-time created by Lisavet's interference
B. A doorway to the real world
C. A trap set by Jack Dillinger
D. A natural feature of the time space
Synthesis
18. How does Lisavet's dual identity as Moira Donnelly complicate her relationship with Ernest?
(Short answer)
19. What does the title The Book of Lost Hours suggest about the novel's central concerns?
(Short answer)
20. How does the novel use memory erasure to explore the relationship between memory and identity?
(Short answer)
Answer Key
Plot & Sequence
1. A — The brass pocket watch. Ezekiel gives Lisavet the family's brass pocket watch before pushing her through the door into the time space, promising to return with her brother Klaus.
2. 1938. Lisavet enters the time space on the first night of Hanukkah in November 1938, during the mob attack on Nuremberg's Jewish neighborhood.
3. A — Azrael. Lisavet names the nameless first timekeeper Azrael, and he becomes her guide, teaching her to time walk and to salvage memories from burning.
4. A — A book with a dark blue cover and a flower. In Chapter 9, Amelia follows whispers to find Anton wrapping a book with a dark blue cover and a flower, which she takes before he confronts her.
5. She swaps her with Elaina Duquesne's dead infant. Lisavet exchanges her baby with Ernest's sister Elaina's stillborn child so that Ernest will raise Amelia as his niece.
6. A — Moira Donnelly. Jack offers Lisavet release as a secretary at the TRP with a new identity, and she chooses the name Moira Donnelly, cutting and dyeing her hair.
7. A — Moira Donnelly. After pushing Amelia through a time-space door, Moira resumes time and kills Jack with two shots.
8. A — Erases his memory and pushes him off a cliff two thousand years in the past. Lisavet uses the book of forgotten names to erase Azrael's memory, travels back two thousand years, and pushes him off a cliff before he can discover the time space.
Character Motivation
9. A — To protect him from Jack and the department. Lisavet erases herself from Ernest's memories so that Jack cannot use their relationship to capture her or punish Ernest.
10. A — Moira threatens to have her institutionalized. When Amelia refuses to become a timekeeper, Moira threatens institutionalization, and Amelia agrees.
11. A — To protect Lisavet from being captured. Ernest tells Jack that a Russian timekeeper killed Lisavet, a false report that holds even after the Russian confesses to attacking her.
12. A — To protect her daughter Amelia's secret. Vasily mentions Lisavet Levy's child during interrogation, and Moira kills him to protect her daughter's identity.
13. A — To send her to safety in an alternate timeline. Lisavet pushes Amelia into the chasm with a pocket watch, sending her to safety in a different version of her life.
Theme & Symbol
14. A — The rebel movement and memory preservation. Forget-me-nots appear as a rebel symbol, representing the movement to save memories from destruction.
15. A — Access to the time space and timekeeper authority. The pocket watch is the device that opens doors into the time space and marks its bearer as a timekeeper.
16. Being Forgotten means having one's memories altered or erased by timekeepers. As Azrael explains, the past is written and unwritten dozens of times over, and when memories are erased, people and events vanish from history.
17. A — A hole in space-time created by Lisavet's interference. The chasm opens in the time space as a consequence of Lisavet's actions, particularly her interference in Amelia's life.
Synthesis
18. Moira works alongside Ernest as his colleague while hiding that she is Lisavet Levy, the woman he loved and lost, and that Amelia is her daughter. This concealment forces her to suppress her identity and feelings while maintaining a professional facade.
19. The title evokes the book of memories Lisavet preserves and the lost time, erased identities, and forgotten histories that the novel explores. It also points to the hours Lisavet loses in the time space and the hours Amelia loses with her true parents.
20. The novel shows that identity depends on memory. Lisavet erasing herself from Ernest's memories reshapes his life without her; Moira's forced identity change demonstrates how erasing one's past can remake a person; and the theme of being Forgotten shows how memory erasure can erase entire communities from history.