What is the title of Charles Dickens's second Christmas book?
Answer
The Chimes
Answer
The Chimes
The title of Charles Dickens's second Christmas book is The Chimes.
Published in 1844, The Chimes followed A Christmas Carol (1843) as the second of Dickens's five Christmas books. Its full title was The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In. Dickens wrote it during his stay in Italy, where the sound of church bells helped inspire the story.
The novella centres on Toby “Trotty” Veck, a poor messenger who works near a church, and his daughter Meg. The supernatural bells lead Trotty through disturbing visions about poverty, injustice and the consequences of treating vulnerable people harshly. Dickens intended the book as a forceful social warning, not merely a festive ghost story.
A common mix-up is The Cricket on the Hearth, which came next in 1845. The Battle of Life and The Haunted Man followed later, in 1846 and 1848 respectively.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026