Which Charles Dickens novel features the character Ebenezer Scrooge?

A Christmas Carol is the Charles Dickens novel that features Ebenezer Scrooge. Published in 1843, the novella follows the miserly London businessman as he is confronted by supernatural visitors on Christmas Eve.

Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, followed by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. These encounters force him to examine his childhood, his treatment of other people, and the grim consequences of continuing to live without compassion.

Dickens wrote the work during a period of concern about poverty and child labor in Britain. He hoped an emotionally powerful Christmas story would encourage readers to think about charity, social responsibility, and the conditions faced by poor families. The book became an immediate success and helped popularize several modern Christmas customs.

A frequent mix-up is treating A Christmas Carol as a full-length novel like Great Expectations or David Copperfield. It is more accurately described as a novella, and Scrooge’s transformation—not the plot of any other Dickens novel—is its defining feature.