The story centers on wealthy old Martin Chuzzlewit. His many relatives believe that he is at death's door, so they swarm about him like bees angling to get a piece of his fortune. The main theme of the novel is selfishness, which is portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family.

The story centers on wealthy old Martin Chuzzlewit. His many relatives believe that he is at death's door, so they swarm about him like bees angling to get a piece of his fortune. The main theme of the novel is selfishness, which is portrayed in a satirical fashion using all the members of the Chuzzlewit family.

First published in 1889, this novel has two main plots; one set in the real world at the time the book was published (the Victorian era), the other in the fictional world of Fairyland.

The Chimes A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol. It is the second in his series of Christmas books five short books with strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840's.