THE CRICKET ON HEARTH

A charming Christmas novella by Charles Dickens, Published in December 1845, This delightful Dicken's Christmas tale has attracted many reader to its depiction of the Victorian ideal of the happy home. Dickens described the novel as "quiet and domestic - innocent and pretty." It is subdivided into chapters call 'Chirps', similar to the "Quarters" of The Chimes or the "Staves" of A Christmas Carol. It is the third of Dicken's five Christmas books, preceded by A Christmas Carol (1843) and The Chimes (1844) and followed by The Balttle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848.