The Cricket on the Hearth

Book 3 in Dickens' Christmas Books. The cricket of the title in this story comes to represent the life and home of John Peerybingle and his younger wife, Dot. When things go well, the cricket on the hearth chirps; it is silent when there is sorrow. Tackleton, a jealous old man, poisons John's mind about Dot, but the cricket, through its supernatural powers, restores John's confidence and all ends happily. Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely enjoyed, performed, and adapted today.