The Familiar: Full-Book Quiz – 20 Questions & Answer Key
Plot & Sequence (8 Questions)
1. (Multiple Choice) What event first exposes Luzia’s magic to Doña Valentina?
- A. Luzia heals a cook’s burned hand
- B. Luzia sings over a burnt loaf of bread, restoring it
- C. Luzia makes flowers bloom in the kitchen
- D. Luzia turns copper coins into spiders
Answer: B. The outline states that Luzia secretly restored a blackened loaf by singing a spell, and Doña Valentina saw the bread earlier when it was burnt.
2. (Short Answer) Name the three trials of the Torneo Secreto in order.
Answer: First trial – a public performance of miracles (goblet-raising into Pleiades). Second trial – a puppet-show with shadow demons. Third trial – a lakeside contest where Luzia and Fortún build a cross/galleon. (Based on Chapters 22–41.)
3. (Multiple Choice) During the second trial, what does Luzia shout to stop the shadow creatures?
- A. “Ave Maria”
- B. “En lo eskuro, es todo uno”
- C. “Abolt kazal, aboltar mazal”
- D. “Onde iras, amigos toparas”
Answer: B. Evidence from Chapter 31 shows she speaks the refrán to extinguish all light.
4. (Short Answer) Which competitor is arrested for possessing Calvinist texts?
Answer: Teoda Halcón (the Holy Child). (Outline, Chapter 34.)
5. (Multiple Choice) How does Luzia escape the Inquisition prison for the first time?
- A. Santángel breaks her out with a sword
- B. She bribes a guard with a love spell
- C. She uses a refrán to unlock the cell and creates a diversion
- D. Don Víctor pays for her release
Answer: C. Outline, Chapter 48: she uses “sweet words open iron gates” and a noisy spell.
6. (Short Answer) What happens to Hualit after leaving Madrid?
Answer: Víctor orders her killed; she drowns after pulling Gonzalo over a bridge. (Outline, Chapter 43.)
7. (Multiple Choice) In the final execution scene, what does Luzia target with her magic?
- A. The king’s confessor
- B. Fortún Donadei’s emerald talisman
- C. The Inquisition’s holy water
- D. The pyre itself
Answer: B. Evidence from Chapter 54 shows she focuses on the green emerald at the center of Donadei’s cross.
8. (Short Answer) After the execution, where do Luzia and Santángel eventually flee?
Answer: Holland (the Netherlands). (Outline, Chapter 55.)
Character Motivation (5 Questions)
9. (Multiple Choice) Why does Luzia continue performing miracles after Hualit warns her to stop?
- A. She believes the Inquisition will protect her
- B. She chooses ambition over safety and wants to change her station
- C. She is forced by Doña Valentina
- D. She hopes to impress a suitor
Answer: B. The outline shows that despite Hualit’s warning, Luzia silently resolves to continue, choosing ambition.
10. (Short Answer) What finally motivates Santángel to train Luzia for the tournament?
Answer: Víctor de Paredes promises him freedom if Luzia wins. (Outline, Chapter 9.)
11. (Multiple Choice) Why does Valentina eventually decide to help Luzia after the arrest?
- A. She hopes to gain a reward
- B. She feels guilt and finds new moral resolve after her own interrogation
- C. She wants to spite her husband
- D. Luzia threatens to expose her secrets
Answer: B. Outline, Chapter 45: after her own interrogation, Valentina finds courage and threatens Marius to plan help for Luzia.
12. (Short Answer) Why does Fortún Donadei ally with Luzia during the third trial only to betray her?
Answer: He wants to win the tournament for his own freedom and sees Luzia as a rival; he creates the shadow creatures and later testifies against her. (Outline, Chapters 27, 41, 51.)
13. (Multiple Choice) What does Santángel reveal is the price he pays for immortality?
- A. He cannot feel hunger or pain
- B. He is bound to serve whoever holds his talisman
- C. He burns to ash each dawn and must be resurrected
- D. He loses all memory of his past
Answer: C. Outline, Chapter 55: each morning he dies and is reborn beside Luzia.
Theme & Symbol (4 Questions)
14. (Multiple Choice) The pomegranate in the story primarily symbolizes:
- A. The Inquisition’s power
- B. Fertility and motherhood
- C. Choice, temptation, and transformation
- D. Spanish conquest
Answer: C. Santángel tells Luzia the pomegranate has many meanings, but in the end “it belongs to no one, except the woman who holds it.” Chapter 19 evidence shows it represents her decision to continue.
15. (Short Answer) What does the scorpion emblem (El Alacrán) represent in the novel?
Answer: It symbolizes Santángel’s identity, his dangerous nature, and his role as a weapon/tool for Víctor. (Outline, Chapter 25.)
16. (Multiple Choice) The refranes (Ladino sayings) that Luzia uses for magic highlight which theme?
- A. The power of language and heritage
- B. The danger of illiteracy
- C. The simplicity of folk magic
- D. The superiority of Latin prayers
Answer: A. The Author’s Note explains Bardugo used Ladino refranes to reflect the living nature of the language. Luzia’s magic comes from reshaping Spanish “with the hammer of exile” (Chapter 54).
17. (Short Answer) How does the recurring image of “invisibility” apply to Luzia’s position as a servant?
Answer: As a scullion, Luzia is overlooked by her social superiors; her magic gives her visibility and power, but also puts her in danger. (Outline, Chapters 1–2.)
Synthesis Questions (3 Questions)
18. (Multiple Choice) How does Bardugo blend historical fact with fiction in The Familiar?
- A. She invents a completely fictional Inquisition
- B. She uses real figures like Antonio Pérez, Lucrecia de León, and King Philip II, but alters details for dramatic effect
- C. She sets the story in a fantasy kingdom unrelated to Spain
- D. She only includes fictional characters
Answer: B. The Author’s Note states she changed dates for Lucrecia de León’s imprisonment and Pérez’s flight, and notes that La Casilla became a convent after Pérez’s property was seized.
19. (Short Answer) Compare Luzia’s choice at the end to eat the pomegranate with her earlier choice to continue performing after Hualit’s warning. What do both decisions reveal about her character?
Answer: Both show she chooses ambition and transformation over safety. Eating the pomegranate signifies accepting her power and the torneo; earlier she refuses to hide despite the Inquisition threat. (Chapters 5, 19.)
20. (Multiple Choice) Which character undergoes the greatest transformation in the novel?
- A. Don Marius, who becomes a brave leader
- B. Fortún Donadei, who learns humility
- C. Valentina, who moves from passive neglect to independent action
- D. Santángel, who regains his luck
Answer: C. Valentina starts as an ignored wife, then after interrogation finds courage to defy Marius, help Luzia, and create a bohemian household with Quiteria. (Chapters 45, 55.)
Full Answer Key
| # | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | The burnt loaf incident in Chapter 1 triggers Valentina’s interest. |
| 2 | Public performance (goblet), puppet-show (shadows), lakeside (cross/galleon) | Based on Chapters 22, 31, 41. |
| 3 | B | “En lo eskuro, es todo uno” extinguishes all light. |
| 4 | Teoda Halcón | Arrested in Chapter 34 for Calvinist texts. |
| 5 | C | She uses a refrán and diversion to escape prison. |
| 6 | She drowns after pulling Gonzalo over a bridge | Víctor orders her death; she fights back. |
| 7 | B | She targets Donadei’s emerald talisman in Chapter 54. |
| 8 | Holland | Final chapter shows them booking passage to Holland. |
| 9 | B | Luzia chooses ambition over safety. |
| 10 | Víctor promises him freedom | Chapter 9: Víctor offers Santángel freedom if Luzia wins. |
| 11 | B | After her own interrogation, Valentina finds moral resolve. |
| 12 | He wants to win and sees Luzia as a rival | Fortún creates shadow creatures and later testifies against her. |
| 13 | C | Each dawn he dies and is reborn. |
| 14 | C | The pomegranate symbolizes choice and transformation. |
| 15 | Santángel’s identity and dangerous nature | Scorpion is his personal emblem. |
| 16 | A | Language and heritage are central to Luzia’s magic. |
| 17 | She is overlooked as a servant; magic makes her visible and vulnerable. | Theme of invisibility runs throughout. |
| 18 | B | Author’s Note confirms historical figures with altered details. |
| 19 | Both show her choosing ambition and transformation over safety. | Parallel moments in Chapters 5 and 19. |
| 20 | C | Valentina transforms from passive to active and independent. |
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