The Chimes

This classic novella by the author of A Christmas Carol offers another unforgettable holiday tale of despair and redemption in Victorian England.

An impoverished old man, Toby "Trotty" Veck is beginning to despair for society. On New Year's Eve, after reading the latest news of crime and depravity in London, he begins to wonder if the poorer classes are simply born wicked. But after coming across a drifter and an orphan—whom Trotty happens to know are in danger of arrest for vagrancy—he and his daughter, Meg, show them nothing but charity.

That night, as the chimes ring in the new year, Trotty is inexplicably drawn to the sound. Finding himself in the bell tower, he is met by goblins who show him a terrifying vision of the future for his daughter, her fiancé, and the two souls he just encountered. Though they aspire to be good, a corrupt and uncaring society drives them to the very kinds of immorality and criminality that make for sensational headlines. But it is not too late . . .