The Chimes

About this edition

On the last night of the year, an old man's fading hope meets the voices of the bells.

Toby "Trotty" Veck earns his living carrying messages through the cold streets. Poor but devoted to his daughter, Meg, he has always found comfort in the church bells above him. Now, worn down by hunger and the cruel judgments of those more fortunate, he begins to wonder whether people like him deserve happiness at all.

Then the chimes call him into the darkness.

Drawn to the bell tower, Trotty encounters mysterious spirits and disturbing visions that challenge everything he has come to believe. With the lives of those he loves at the heart of his ordeal, he must confront the cost of surrendering to despair.

One of Charles Dickens's five Christmas books, The Chimes blends supernatural mystery, sharp social criticism, and tenderness in a tale set on New Year's Eve. For readers drawn to Victorian atmosphere and the compassion of A Christmas Carol, it offers a darker seasonal story about poverty, dignity, and our responsibility to one another.

This collector's edition features 10+ original illustrations and a Biography of Charles Dickens, pairing the story's vivid atmosphere with an introduction to the author behind it.

As the old year slips away, the bells ask a question that still matters: can we face the future without losing faith in each other?