The story starts in a charity hospice in Rochester—a place that Dickens himself was familiar with from his own childhood. According to the will of the founder, Richard Watts, at Christmas the hospice must provide lodgings and entertainment for one night as well as some money to six poor people, an amount that is substantial enough to allow the travelers to buy a hearty meal. On Christmas Eve there are six people in the inn and the novels is composed from the six stories of the travelers who find shelter in the hospice, plus the narrator himself. The stories told by the travelers and the meal shared create a kind of harmony and a sense of community between the seven people—they all leave the inn the following day and life will probably take them to different places, but they will all cherish the memory of this one serene evening.