A Christmas Carol

Beloved fable about Christmas, class, and benevolence, written by Charles Dickens in 1843, in just six weeks - because he was under financial pressure and needed the reader fees to pay for his own holiday feast. Dickens drew on his own experience growing up in a poor family and being hounded by debtors when writing "A Christmas Carol." Featuring the fabulously wealthy but lonely Ebeneezer Scrooge, his employee Bob Cratchit and family, plus a cast of three nighttime ghosts, the novella sold briskly from the moment it came out and is an annual bestseller even today. But because Dickens was very particular about the binding and endpapers, he made less money on the story than he'd hoped.