The cricket on the hearth door Charles Dickens

Summary :

John Peerybingle is a courier, who is paid for carrying parcels and people on horse cart from one place to another. His wife, Mary Peerybingle, is much younger than him. He called her Dot. They were a happy family together and got a baby of 2 months old. Behind the hearth a cricket lived. The people believed that the cricket brought lucky where he lived. One day John finds an old man on his carriage. He had long white hair and a young face and dark eyes.
John takes him to his house, where the stranger too stays for a while. Then they hear that Mr. Tackleton, an unfriendly man, marries with a young girl, called May Fielding.
The day before the marriage they are invited to pass by, just like John and Dot. The stranger comes along with them.
That evening the stranger and Dot have an intimate talk. Mr. Tackleton makes John suspicious and takes him with to spy the 2 guys. When a little later John watches the stranger, the stranger takes of his hairpiece and seems to be a man. John thinks that de young man is Dot’s lover, because he’s too old and the stranger much younger.
He gets angry and takes a gun, but due to the cricket’s sound behind the hearth he calms down and his love for Dot increases.
The next day the stranger has disappeared. Bertha is upset because Mr Tackleton marries with May that day. That did break her heart. Then Mr Caleb decides to tell her daughter the truth, and asks Dot to support him.
When he tells that Mr Tackleton isn’t a nice man, and that she doesn’t live at all in a beautiful house, but in an old, dirty house, and all the other things that weren’t true, Bertha however forgives her father.Then the gentleman and May enters the room. Mr Caleb immediately recognises him. It’s his supposedly dead son, Edward. He used to be May’s fiancée, before he left. Now he was married with May that morning. Then Mr Tackleton enters, he came to pick up May to go to the church. But May is already married to Edward this morning and shows him the ring. Mr Tackleton leaves angrily.
When that evening the marriage is celebrated Mr Tackleton comes and offers his excuses and party on together.

Appreciation:

In the beginning I thought it was an awful book, but after a few chapters the book becomes much better. The character of John is really good and especially the way it’s written. I didn’t expect the book to end the way it did, so it was really surprising. I think that everyone should read this wonderful book.