The Seven Poor Travellers

The story is set on Christmas Eve and features a group of seven destitute travelers who arrive in Rochester England seeking shelter for the night. They are welcomed by a kind-hearted innkeeper named Gabriel Grub who provides them with food drink and warm beds. The story is framed as a narrative within a narrative with Dickens himself appearing as a character who recounts the story to a group of friends. In the course of the story Dickens describes the lives and backstories of the travelers each of whom has experienced hardship and adversity.