The Battle of Life is the only one of the five Christmas Books by Charles Dickens that has no supernatural or explicitly religious elements. (One scene takes place at Christmas time, but it is not the final scene.) The story bears some resemblance to The Cricket on the Hearth in two respects: it has a non-urban setting, and it is resolved with a romantic twist. It is even less of a social novel than is Cricket. As is typical with Dickens, the ending is a happy one. This novella was first published in 1846. Two sisters, Grace and Marion, live happily in an English village with their two servants, and their good-natured widower father Dr Jeddler. Marion, the younger sister, is betrothed to Alfred Heathfield, Jeddler s ward who is leaving the village to complete his studies. He entrusts Marion to Grace s care and makes a promise to return to win Marion s hand. On the day that Alfred is to return, however, it is discovered that Marion has run off. After nursing heartbreak, Alfred marries Grace instead of Marion and she bears him a daughter, also called Marion. On the birthday of Marion, Grace confides to Alfred that Marion has made a promise to explain her so-called elopement in person. Marion indeed appears that evening by sunset and explains her disappearance to the parties involved. It turns out that Marion has not eloped but has instead been living at her aunt Martha s place so as to allow Alfred to fall in love with Grace.