The Cricket on the Hearth

Charles Dickens formalised his Christmas views in a series of little novels the first of which was the renowned A Christmas Carol. Following that were four more: The Chimes The Cricket on the Hearth The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man. The five are now referred to as the Christmas Books.The title creature serves as a sort of compass for life at John Peerybingle's and his considerably younger wife Dot's house. When things are going well the cricket on the hearth chirps; when things are bad it is silent. Tackleton a jealous old man poisons John's mind concerning Dot but the cricket restores John's trust through its magical abilities.