The Cricket on the Hearth
The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home is a novella by Charles Dickens, published in 1845. Like all of Dickens's Christmas books, it was published in book form, not as a serial. Dickens described the novel as 'quiet and domestic [...] innocent and pretty.' It is subdivided into chapters called 'Chirps', similar to the 'Quarters' of The Chimes or the 'Staves' of A Christmas Carol. It is the third of Dickens's five Christmas books, preceded by A Christmas Carol (1843) and The Chimes (1844), and followed by The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848).
Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his young wife Dot, their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy. A cricket chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family. One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.
The life of the Peerybingles intersects with that of Caleb Plummer, a poor toymaker employed by the miser Mr. Tackleton. Caleb has a blind daughter Bertha, and a son Edward, who travelled to South America and is thought to be dead...
It has been dramatised in numerous languages and for years was more popular on stage than A Christmas Carol. The book was a huge commercial success, quickly going through two editions.
