The Chimes

The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth. It is the second in his series of 'Christmas books': five short books with strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840s.

The Chimes is a campaigning story like its predecessor A Christmas Carol, written with the intention of swaying readers towards Dickens' moral message. The chimes represent time, and the main themes of the story are summarised in the three wrongs they accuse Trotty, the main character,of committing:

Harking back to a golden age that never was, instead of striving to improve conditions here and now.

Believing that individual human joys and sorrows do not matter to a higher power.

Condemning those who are fallen and unfortunate, and offering them neither help nor pity.

© 2015 Anncona Media AB (Audiobook): 9789176054123

Release date

Audiobook: 1 January 2015