The Surrogate Mother: A 20-Question Reader Quiz
This quiz covers the full arc of Freida McFadden's psychological thriller. Each question is drawn from the novel's outline and dialogue evidence. After the questions you will find a complete answer key with brief explanations.
Questions
Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)
1. What devastating news does Sam deliver to Abby during her baby shower?
- A) He has lost his job
- B) The baby shower was a surprise for someone else
- C) Their surrogate Janelle has changed her mind and will keep the baby
- D) He has been having an affair
2. Who first proposes the surrogacy arrangement to Abby?
- A) Sam
- B) Monica
- C) Shelley
- D) Denise Holt
3. What item does Monica use to prove she is pregnant on the first insemination attempt?
- A) An ultrasound image
- B) A doctor's note
- C) A white plastic stick with two blue lines inside a Ziploc bag
- D) A sonogram video recording
4. (Short answer) What name do Abby and Sam give to the baby who is born at the end of the story?
5. What object is used to frame Abby for Denise Holt's murder?
- A) A bloody knife
- B) A letter opener engraved with Abby's name
- C) A poisoned coffee mug
- D) A forged suicide note
6. What does former assistant Gertie confide to Abby about her stairwell fall?
- A) She slipped on a wet floor
- B) She felt "like a push" and jokes about it
- C) She was pushed by Monica
- D) She faked the fall to get leave
7. Whose daughter is Gertie revealed to be?
- A) Denise Holt's
- B) Monica's
- C) Shelley's
- D) Louise Johnson's
8. (Short answer) After the final confrontation, Monica survives but in what medical condition does she remain one year later?
Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)
9. Why does Monica originally offer to become Abby's surrogate?
- A) She wants to experience pregnancy
- B) She feels sorry for Abby and wants to help
- C) She needs money to pay for graduate school in graphic art
- D) She wants to eventually take Abby's job
10. Which of the following is NOT one of Sam's initial objections to using Monica as a surrogate?
- A) The awkwardness of working with the pregnant surrogate
- B) The cost of paying for Monica's graduate school
- C) The risk that Monica might change her mind
- D) The possibility that the baby might not look like Abby
11. (Short answer) Why does Abby decide to ignore the inconsistency of Monica claiming to be from Indiana but expressing strong loyalty to the Boston Red Sox?
12. What is Abby's mother's primary warning to Abby about the surrogacy arrangement?
- A) That the contract might not hold up in court
- B) That she should not trust Sam, especially with a beautiful young woman
- C) That Monica might sue for custody
- D) That the baby could have health problems
13. Why does Shelley warn Abby against going forward with Monica as the surrogate?
- A) She believes Monica is too young to be a surrogate
- B) She thinks Monica may develop feelings for Sam and claims she saw Monica eavesdropping
- C) She wants to be the surrogate herself
- D) She knows Monica has a criminal record
Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)
14. What does the "Mommy Fuel" coffee mug represent for Abby in the early chapters?
- A) Her hope for the future
- B) Her grief over failed infertility and the loss of the adoption
- C) Her love of coffee
- D) Her close bond with Shelley
15. What does the yellow baby blanket that Louise Johnson brings to the Adlers' apartment in the Epilogue symbolize?
- A) Abby's acceptance of Monica's role
- B) The genetic and emotional legacy of Monica that cannot be discarded
- C) A fresh start for the family
- D) Sam's regret about the surrogacy
16. (Short answer) How does the recurring motif of drugged drinks (coffee, orange juice, sleeping pills) function in Monica's scheme against Abby?
17. Which theme is most directly illustrated by Abby's years of infertility, failed IVF, and guilt over being the "defective" partner?
- A) The corrupting influence of money
- B) The societal pressure on women to become mothers and the shame of infertility
- C) The importance of career over family
- D) The unreliability of marriage
Synthesis (Questions 18–20)
18. How does the author use the character of Gertie to subvert reader expectations throughout the novel?
- A) Gertie appears as a harmless, helpful former employee but is later revealed to be Monica's mother and co-conspirator
- B) Gertie is initially suspicious but turns out to be innocent
- C) Gertie helps Abby escape but betrays Sam
- D) Gertie is Monica's victim rather than her accomplice
19. (Short answer) What does the Epilogue's final image — David clinging to Monica's scented blanket — suggest about the possibility of true closure after trauma?
20. How does the prologue's opening — Abby learning she will be arrested in twenty-four hours — affect the reader's experience of the flashback chapters that follow?
- A) It eliminates all suspense because the reader knows the outcome
- B) It creates dramatic irony as readers watch Abby walk into traps knowing she will later be accused of murder
- C) It confuses the timeline unnecessarily
- D) It reveals that Abby is guilty from the start
Answer Key
1. C — Sam tells Abby that their surrogate Janelle has changed her mind and will keep the baby. This happens in Chapter 3 (per the outline) and shatters Abby's hopes.
2. B — Monica proposes the arrangement in Chapter 4, saying, "I would do it… Be your surrogate." Abby is initially shocked but begins considering it.
3. C — In Chapter 10, Monica places a Ziploc bag containing a pregnancy test stick with two blue lines on Abby's desk to announce the pregnancy.
4. David — Sam informs Abby the baby is a boy (Chapter 17), and the Epilogue shows the family raising their son David.
5. B — In Chapter 29, Abby finds Denise dead behind her desk, and the detective shows her a blood-soaked letter opener engraved with her name, framing her for the murder.
6. B — In Chapter 23, Gertie tells Abby her stairwell fall "felt like a push" but treats it as a joke. Abby later connects this to Monica.
7. B — In Chapter 37, Monica reveals, "Gertie is my mother," confirming their coordinated conspiracy against Abby.
**8. Permanent vegetative state / never woke up / "as good as dead" — In the Epilogue, Louise Johnson says "Monica is in a permanent vegetative state" with "no change" and the doctors said she would never wake up.
9. C — In Chapter 4 (evidence), Monica says she wants a Master's in graphic art but cannot afford it, and proposes surrogacy as a way to fund her education: "I can give you the baby you want, and you can help me get my advanced degree."
10. D — The outline lists Sam's five objections: awkwardness of working with the pregnant surrogate, cost of graduate school, risk she might change her mind, legal complications of using his sperm, and discomfort with having a biological child through another woman. The baby's appearance is not among them.
11. Abby chooses to ignore the Red Sox inconsistency because she does not want to derail the surrogacy plan (outline, Chapter 9). Her desire for a child outweighs her intuition about Monica's dishonesty.
12. B — In Chapter 13 (evidence), Abby's mother says, "you don't want to leave him alone with that woman. He's a man and he won't be able to help himself," and "you can't trust men. None of them." She repeatedly warns Abby that Sam may cheat.
13. B — In Chapter 7 (evidence), Shelley says Monica is female and has "noticed" Sam's attractiveness, warns that Monica might decide she wants him, and claims to have seen Monica "listening outside the door to your office."
14. B — In Chapter 4 (evidence), Abby sees the mug and "the ache intensifies back to a stab." She asks Monica to remove it, saying "I just… don't want to look at them" — the mug represents the baby she thought she would have.
15. B — The Epilogue shows David becoming inconsolable until Abby gives him the blanket; he buries his face in Monica's lingering lavender perfume. The final image suggests Monica's genetic and emotional presence cannot simply be thrown away.
16. The drugged drinks serve as Monica's method to discredit Abby: she drugs Abby's coffee to trigger a false-positive meth test (leading to her firing), and later uses sleeping pills in orange juice to incapacitate her for the final framing. The motif shows how Monica controls Abby's perception of reality.
17. B — Abby's infertility narrative — the damaged uterus, poor egg quality, failed IVF, and her own words "I felt like an absolute failure as a woman" — directly illustrate the theme of societal pressure on women to bear children and the deep shame of infertility.
18. A — Gertie first appears as a kind former employee who "felt like a push" on the stairs, gaining Abby's sympathy. Later (Chapter 37) she is revealed as Monica's mother who helped orchestrate the entire conspiracy, subverting the reader's trust.
19. The Epilogue suggests that closure is incomplete and precarious. Despite Monica being in a vegetative state and Abby wanting to discard the blanket, David's powerful, inexplicable attachment to the scent of Monica's perfume shows that trauma and genetic bonds persist no matter how much the survivors wish to move on.
20. B — The prologue reveals that Abby will be arrested for first-degree murder. This knowledge creates dramatic irony throughout the flashback chapters: the reader sees Abby trusting Monica and her husband while knowing that those same events will be used to build a circumstantial case against her.
How well do you know The Surrogate Mother?
- 17–20 correct: You have an expert-level grasp of the plot, characters, and themes.
- 13–16 correct: Solid recall — you may want to revisit a few key twists.
- 9–12 correct: A good start; consider reviewing the back half of the novel.
- 0–8 correct: Time for a reread — the devil is in the details.
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