Charles Dickens was the most popular novelist of his time. The Chimes is a short novel by Charles Dickens and was published in 1844. This is one among the novels in his Christmas Series, which spreads out a strong moral and social message. The book was written in late 1844, during Dickens' year-long visit to Italy. John Forster, his first biographer, records that Dickens, hunting for a title and structure for his next contracted Christmas story, was struck one day by the clamour of the Genoese bells audible from the villa where they were staying. The title of the novel was finalized when Dickens, happened to hear the bell at the church when winds were there and he instantly named his novel as ‘The Chimes’. The story is basically about a dream and the confusions that happening in the dream. On New Year's Eve, Trotty, a poor elderly "ticket-porter" or casual messenger, is filled with gloom at the reports of crime and immorality in the newspapers, and wonders whether the working classes are simply wicked by nature. His daughter Meg and her long-time fiancé Richard arrive and announce their decision to marry the next day. Trotty hides his misgivings, but their happiness is dispelled by an encounter with the pompous Alderman Cute, plus a political economist and a young gentleman with a nostalgia, all of whom make Trotty, Meg and Richard feel they hardly have a right to exist, let alone marry. Enjoy free online English audiobook “The Chimes”, one of the most interesting short novel by Charles Dickens.
