“The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home” is a novella by Charles Dickens and the third in his “Christmas Books” series published after “The Chimes (1844) and before “The Battle of Life” (1846). Dickens's Christmas novels perfectly enraptured the spirit of the Victorian Christmas revival and even inspired a number of traditional aspects of the holiday, including seasonal food and drink, family gatherings, dancing, and more. Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812–1870) was an English writer and social critic famous for having created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters. His works became unprecedentedly popular during his life, and today he is commonly regarded as the greatest Victorian-era novelist. Although perhaps better known for such works as “Great Expectations” or “A Christmas Carol”, Dickens first gained success with the 1836 serial publication of “The Pickwick Papers”, which turned him almost overnight into an international literary celebrity thanks to his humour, satire, and astute observations concerning society and character. This classic work is being republished now in a new edition complete with an introductory chapter from “Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens” by G. K. Chesterton.
