The Divorce Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

This quiz covers the full story of The Divorce by Freida McFadden. Questions range from plot points to character motivations, themes, and synthesis. Use the book homepage for reference, or check the questions and answers and the ending explained for deeper insights.

Quiz Questions

1. Multiple Choice – What is the first lie Jeremy tells Naomi to get her out of the house?

   • A. He needs to go on a business trip.
   • B. He is renovating the house.
   • C. He wants a trial separation.
   • D. He is selling the house.

2. Multiple Choice – How does Naomi first discover Jeremy’s affair?

   • A. She sees them kissing outside the house.
   • B. She finds love letters in his office.
   • C. Teddy tells her about another woman.
   • D. She hires a private investigator.

3. Multiple Choice – What does Jeremy plant in Teddy’s drawer to make Naomi look dangerous?

   • A. A bloody knife.
   • B. A stabbed elephant toy.
   • C. A threatening note.
   • D. Her missing Tylenol bottle.

4. Multiple Choice – What is the result of the DNA test Veronica takes on Teddy?

   • A. He is Jeremy’s biological son.
   • B. He is Veronica’s biological son.
   • C. He is not related to anyone in the story.
   • D. The test is inconclusive.

5. Multiple Choice – Which main character dies in the house fire?

   • A. Jeremy.
   • B. Veronica.
   • C. Naomi.
   • D. Teddy.

6. Multiple Choice – What does the epilogue reveal about Jeremy’s past actions?

   • A. He killed Clay and planned Naomi’s death.
   • B. He never loved Veronica.
   • C. He adopted Teddy legally.
   • D. He fled the country after the fire.

7. Multiple Choice – How does Naomi falsify Teddy’s paternity test?

   • A. She forges hospital documents.
   • B. She swaps Jeremy’s cheek swab with his father’s.
   • C. She bribes the lab technician.
   • D. She uses a dead man’s DNA from the morgue.

8. Multiple Choice – What is the “monkey videos” code used for?

   • A. To signal danger to a neighbor.
   • B. To send Teddy to his room without discussion.
   • C. To cancel plans with friends.
   • D. To order takeout without being overheard.

9. Short Answer – Why does Naomi refuse to accept the divorce at first?

   • Your answer:

10. Multiple Choice – According to Naomi’s lawyer, Ezra, what is Jeremy’s real motive for demanding full custody?

    • A. He believes Naomi is a danger to Teddy.
    • B. He wants to avoid paying child support.
    • C. He wants to punish Naomi for the affair.
    • D. He thinks Teddy is not Naomi’s son.

11. Multiple Choice – Why does Veronica begin running with Jeremy?

    • A. She wants to improve her fitness.
    • B. She wants to get close to him and investigate Teddy.
    • C. She inherited a passion for running.
    • D. She is spying on Naomi for a friend.

12. Short Answer – What is Jeremy’s primary motivation in the epilogue?

    • Your answer:

13. Multiple Choice – What initially motivates Ezra Fletcher to take Naomi’s case?

    • A. He is friends with Cora Janzen.
    • B. He wants to defeat Jeremy out of spite.
    • C. He believes Naomi deserves a fair fight in court.
    • D. He hopes for a romantic relationship with her.

14. Multiple Choice – What does the elephant toy given to Teddy symbolize?

    • A. Childhood innocence.
    • B. The bond between Veronica and Teddy.
    • C. The theft of Teddy from his real mother.
    • D. Jeremy’s manipulation of Veronica.

15. Multiple Choice – The repeated motif of kombucha in the story primarily represents:

    • A. Naomi’s obsession with health food.
    • B. A vehicle for poisoning.
    • C. Domestic tranquility.
    • D. Fermentation as a metaphor for decay.

16. Multiple Choice – What does the prenuptial agreement represent in the novel?

    • A. Financial security for both parties.
    • B. Control and coercion in the marriage.
    • C. Love and trust between Jeremy and Naomi.
    • D. Legal protection against infidelity.

17. Multiple Choice – The fire at the end of the book symbolizes:

    • A. Purification and revelation.
    • B. Destruction of evidence.
    • C. Both A and B.
    • D. Jeremy’s uncontrollable anger.

18. Short Answer – How does the novel challenge the reader’s assumptions about who the true villain is?

    • Your answer:

19. Short Answer – Compare Naomi’s and Veronica’s motivations for wanting Teddy.

    • Your answer:

20. Short Answer – What role does the concept of “gaslighting” play in the plot?

    • Your answer:

Answer Key

1. B. He is renovating the house. – Jeremy tells Naomi the house needs repairs, but in Chapter 5 he admits, “There is no renovation”—it was a lie to remove her from the home.

2. A. She sees them kissing outside the house. – In Chapter 10, Naomi drives to the house, spots a beige Jetta, watches Jeremy escort a raven‑haired woman out, and sees him kiss her.

3. B. A stabbed elephant toy. – The epilogue confirms Jeremy entered Naomi’s apartment, stabbed Teddy’s elephant with a knife and red sauce, and photographed it to use as evidence that Naomi is violent.

4. B. He is Veronica’s biological son. – In Chapter 60, Veronica receives DNA results showing a 99.9999998% maternity probability, confirming Teddy (born Dominic) is her child.

5. C. Naomi. – In Chapter 69, Naomi accepts death in the wine cellar as the fire consumes her. Ezra also dies there.

6. A. He killed Clay and planned Naomi’s death. – The epilogue reveals Jeremy murdered Clay (staged as overdose) and manipulated events to destroy Naomi, including poisoning her kombucha and planting evidence.

7. B. She swaps Jeremy’s cheek swab with his father’s. – Chapter 64 details Naomi swabbing Jeremy’s Alzheimer’s‑stricken father and submitting that sample as Teddy’s, producing a false paternity match.

8. B. To send Teddy to his room without discussion. – The code is first used in Chapter 5 when Jeremy tells Teddy to go to his room and watch monkey videos so the adults can talk privately.

9. She still loves Jeremy and believes the marriage can be saved, despite the betrayal. – Throughout Chapters 6–18, Naomi repeatedly refuses to accept divorce, hoping to reconcile and convinced the affair is a midlife crisis.

10. B. He wants to avoid paying child support. – In Chapter 21, Ezra explains Jeremy’s full‑custody demand is a tactic to escape monthly payments, not a genuine concern about Naomi’s parenting.

11. B. She wants to get close to him and investigate Teddy. – After suspecting Teddy is her missing son Dominic, Veronica quits her job, moves near Jeremy, and uses running as a pretext to build a relationship (Chapters 53–54).

12. He will do anything—including murder—to keep Teddy from being taken away. – The epilogue shows Jeremy killed Clay Barkley and planned Naomi’s death because they threatened his possession of Teddy.

13. C. He believes Naomi deserves a fair fight in court. – In Chapter 18, Ezra tells Naomi he wants to help her, and despite his disorganized office, he treats her case seriously because he sees Jeremy’s tactics as coercive.

14. B. The bond between Veronica and Teddy. – In Chapter 57, Veronica gives Teddy the elephant she originally bought for Dominic, symbolizing her transfer of love and her hope to become part of his life.

15. B. A vehicle for poisoning. – In Chapter 27, Naomi suspects Veronica poisoned her kombucha, and the epilogue reveals Jeremy actually ground up Tylenol and mixed it into the kombucha he knew Naomi would drink.

16. B. Control and coercion in the marriage. – The prenup is described in Chapter 18 as “a coerced mess” that Jeremy used to trap Naomi, reflecting the imbalance of power in their relationship.

17. C. Both A and B. – The fire destroys the bodies of Naomi and Ezra (destruction of evidence), but it also forces Veronica to rescue Teddy and leads to the revelation of the truth about Teddy’s parentage (purification and revelation).

18. The reader initially suspects Jeremy, then Veronica, and later Naomi as the villain. However, the epilogue reveals Jeremy as the mastermind: he murdered Clay, manipulated the divorce, poisoned Naomi, and planned her death, making him the true antagonist. – Evidence: Epilogue, Chapters 74.

19. Both women believe they are protecting Teddy, but for different reasons. Naomi kidnapped him out of desperation for a child after infertility, and she sees herself as his savior from a drug‑addicted home. Veronica, his biological mother, wants to reclaim the son she lost and feels entitled to raise him. Neither is wholly selfless; Naomi uses lies to keep Teddy, while Veronica initially hides her true identity. – Evidence: Chapters 63–64 (Naomi’s confession), Chapters 53–55 (Veronica’s investigation).

20. Jeremy systematically gaslights Naomi by giving her incorrect appointment times, hiding evidence of the affair, and planting the stabbed elephant to make her appear unstable. Naomi also gaslights herself by denying the reality of the divorce. The narrative itself gaslights the reader by withholding the full truth until the epilogue, forcing a reinterpretation of all earlier events. – Evidence: Epilogue, Chapter 74 (Jeremy admits changing times and planting evidence).