Quiz: Can You Crack the Backstories Behind These Famous Book Titles? Most People Fumble the Classics

Some novels wear their synopses right on their sleeves, giving away almost everything but the ending in just a few words. Others act like literary Easter eggs, with clever metaphors, niche character references, or literal quotes stamped neatly onto the spine.

You might have skimmed these 18 iconic books, from Crime and Punishment to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban—or at least their covers—dozens of times, but do you actually know what inspired them or what they stand for? Put your book smarts to the test and see how many of these backstories you can recall from just the title!

How many details could you dredge up from your brain's book backlog? Even English majors who have read these classics from cover to cover have been lost for lore, so don't sweat it if a few titles took you by surprise.

While cover art can take on many forms over the years, a book's actual title is typically set in stone once it goes to print, save for foreign translations or special anniversary editions. But in some cases, an author's original or backup title can help decode a story's deeper meaning.

Share this quiz with friends who always seem to have their nose in a book, then take a peek behind the pages into title trivia—plus how a few bestselling novels almost hit shelves under completely different names—below!

Famous Book Titles That Almost Had Completely Different Names

When you think about the big names in book history, it's hard to imagine them being called anything else. An evocative title can feel enmeshed with a novel's essence, like The Great Gatsby and the Roaring ’20s or Pride and Prejudice and its complicated courtships. But some of the most memorable titles went through some trial and error before reaching the page.

Take F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was torn over what to call his Jazz Age classic. During the story's development, he considered titles including Trimalchio in West Egg, Among Ash Heaps and Millionaires, and On the Road to West Egg. Even after The Great Gatsby had been set in type, Fitzgerald continued to second-guess the title, circling back to alternatives—specifically Under the Red, White and Blue—only weeks before its release.

George Orwell's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four had a similarly chaotic journey prior to its publication. What started as The Last Man in Europe was soon deemed not commercial enough by his publisher, who pushed for the smooth and succinct Nineteen Eighty-Four. The legend that Orwell decided on it by reversing the digits of 1948—the year he completed the work—is a popular one, but lacks solid evidence.

Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind also had an early identity crisis. The Civil War-era romance was almost titled Tomorrow Is Another Day—the novel's famous final line. From Pansy to Scarlett and Tote the Weary Load to Gone With the Wind, Mitchell's indecisiveness ultimately culminated in the iconic character names and title we know today. The phrase "gone with the wind" itself actually comes from Ernest Dowson's poem Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae.

A novel's title may seem like a no-brainer once it has become a classic, but getting there can take some work. The titles we know so well today weren't always the final destination for their authors, who went through journeys rivaling their most convoluted plotlines before landing there. Sometimes, finding the right title is almost as difficult as writing the book itself.

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