Culture
Can You Recognize This Novel From a One-Line Description?
Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s multiple-choice quiz designed to test your knowledge of books and literary culture. This week’s challenge asks you to identify five famous 20th-century novels based on a very simple one-sentence plot description.
Just tap or click on the title you think is correct to see the answer and a snippet of the original coverage in The Times. After the last question, you’ll find links to the titles in case you’re looking for a something to read.
new video loaded: Read These 3 Books Before Watching the Movie
By Jennifer Harlan, Edward Vega and June Kim
January 9, 2026
A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz highlights buildings that inspired authors, often to the point of including the structures in their novels. (Many of the buildings are still open to visitors.) To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. At the end of the quiz, you’ll find links to the books if you’d like to do further reading.
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By Jennifer Harlan, Sadie Stein, Claire Hogan, Laura Salaberry and Edward Vega
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