Charles Dickens
Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
The Cricket on the Hearth
Dickens described the novel as "quiet and domestic [...] innocent and pretty." It is subdivided into chapters called "Chirps", similar to the "Quarters" of "The Chimes" or the "Staves" of "A Christmas Carol". It is the third of Dickens's five Christmas books, preceded by "A Christmas Carol" (1843) and "The Chimes" (1844), and followed by "The Battle of Life" (1846) and "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain" (1848).