The chimes - Charles Dickens

A follow-up to A Christmas Carol, this is the story of a poor ticket porter whose outlook is changed from despair to hope by the spirits of the chimes on New Year's Eve

As Trotty's working day as a lowly messenger draws to a close, his daughter, Meg, arrives with her fianc Richard in tow, and they proudly announce their wedding for the following day. This is cause for celebration, although their happiness is tempered by the comments of an alderman and other well-off citizens on the rights of the poor to marry. During the night, Trotty hears the chimes of a church bell and ventures out to climb the belltower. At the top he is greeted by goblins who tell him that he died during the climb and must now spend his time watching his friends and family live out their lives. What he witnesses makes for grim viewing, and Totty finds himself attempting to rescue his daughter from the brink of destruction. He wakes as if from a dream to the bells chiming out the beginning of a new year, and finds that no time has passed and it is New Year's Day. But as he sees his daughter cheerfully preparing for her wedding day, he is baffled as to whether this is just a dream within a dream. Tackling familiar themes of redemption, social injustice, and family, this is a story of hope and contemplation and is a moving festive read well worth discovering.