{"product_id":"2940012244246","title":"The Chimes and Other Charles Dickens Christmas Stories","description":"The Chimes\u003cbr\u003eA Christmas Tree\u003cbr\u003eThe Schoolboy's Story\u003cbr\u003eWhat Christmas is as we Grow Older\u003cbr\u003eThe Poor Relation's Story\u003cbr\u003eThe Child's Story\u003cbr\u003eNobody's Story\u003cbr\u003eThe Christmas Goblins\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Chimes Summery:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne New Year's Eve Trotty, a 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe chimes are old bells in the church on whose steps Trotty Veck plies his trade. The book is divided into four parts named \"quarters\", after the quarter chimes of a striking clock. (This parallels Dickens naming the parts of A Christmas Carol \"staves\" – that is \"stanzas\" – and dividing The Cricket on the Hearth into \"chirps\".)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTrotty's daughter Meg and her long-time fiancé Richard arrive and announce their decision to marry next day. Trotty hides his misgivings, but their happiness is dispelled by an encounter with a pompous alderman, Cute, plus a political economist and a young gentleman with a nostalgia for the past, all of whom make Trotty, Meg and Richard feel they hardly have a right to exist, let alone marry.","brand":"Cherry Lane Ebooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145306915056,"sku":"2940012244246","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012244246_p0.jpg?v=1763554051","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012244246","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}