Christmas Books Author:Charles Dickens This volume is a compilation of short novels that Charles Dickens wrote annually for the holiday season in the 1840s. They include probably the most famous Christmas story ever written, "A Christmas Carol," as well as "The Chimes," "The Cricket on the Hearth," "The Battle of Life," and "The Haunted Man." The characters in all of these are vintag... more »e Dickens, and while Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim may be the most memorable, all of them reward acquaintance, including the ticket porter Trotty Veck and his daughter, of "The Chimes"; John Peerybingle and his young wife, Dot, whose love is restored through the intervention of the cricket that watches over them, in "The Cricket of the Hearth"; and the other colorful figures who fill these enchanting narratives. The stories themselves, which the author hoped would "awaken some loving and forebearing thoughts" of the season among his readers, certainly evoke the charm of a bygone era long associated with term "Dickensian," bringing the reader effortlessly into a fantasy world that yet appears strangely familiar and welcoming.« less