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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What city is the hospital Vivian works at located in?

2. What does Vivian tell Malcolm contributes to the aspect of her riding the horse that he compliments her on?

3. What does Malcolm tell Vivian about the Queen's horses in Chapter 3?

4. Who is Malcolm's nephew?

5. In Chapter 5, what does Miles text Malcolm to tell him?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 4, what do the royal stables mean to Vivian as she thinks about her impending visit there?

2. In Chapter 5, what does Malcolm do on the way back to Sandringham Estate with Vivian that takes her off-guard at first?

3. In Chapter 5, what kind of conversation do Vivian and Malcolm engage in, and about, as they look at their menus at lunch?

4. In Chapter 4, what does Malcolm tell Vivian is a good reason she should take a risk and ride one of the royal horses?

5. In Chapter 2, what is difficult for Vivian to get used to as she walks around Sandringham Estate with Malcolm and why?

6. How does Vivian's daughter Maddie come to work for the Duchess in Chapter 1?

7. In Chapter 1, why are there often fires in the bedrooms at Sycamore Cottage, and what happened when the Duchess tried to use electric space heaters?

8. In Chapter 2, what has Malcolm noticed about how most people behave when they are guests of the royal family?

9. In Chapter 4, what does Tim, the stable manager, tell Vivian she should think about when she deals with the horses?

10. In Chapter 5, how do Malcolm and Vivian communicate with each other when they are not face-to-face?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How would you describe the early interactions between Vivian and Malcolm, and how do Vivian's and Malcolm's communications with each other change after their first kiss in Chapter Five? Write an essay explaining your answer, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter Nine, what does Malcolm's treatment of Vivian, and his attitude towards her on their first day in London together, reveal about his character - specifically the way he handles stress and conflict? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Though the novel is narrated from a third-person point of view, Guillory alternates the focus of her chapters between Vivian and Malcolm. What effect do you think Guillory's switching of her focus between these two main characters has on the reader's perception, and understanding of, those characters? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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