Anne, Mary’s mother, also comes alive for Lofts, worried about Mary and convinced her son in law is a fool for taking her on a donkey to Bethlehem. The way Mary and Joseph each receive the news of their holy son’s impending birth is beautifully written, as is the miracle of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and Mary’s visit to her cousin. The shepherd, a grieving father whose son fell in with Jewish rebels and ended up crucified. The innkeeper she imagines to be a former sailor. She imagines the wise men as an astronomer from Korea (Melchior), a Mongolian military leader (Gaspar) and a learned eunuch slave from Africa (Balthazar). Lofts imagines a backstory for the lesser known characters and fills out the lives of those you may be more familiar with.

It’s the story of all the people converging on the nativity - Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, one of the shepherds, even the innkeeper. I have since learned that Lofts was known for the detail in her historical novels and that was one thing I enjoyed about How Far to Bethlehem. Last week, after finishing a book for Kirkus and turning in my final paper before the winter break, I decided it would make a good Advent read. How could she make him understand that their destiny was to raise the Christ-child together? Norah Lofts 1965 classic novel weaves together all the characters of the Nativity, from the gentle strength of Mary and the kindness and loyalty of Joseph through the tempestuous journey of the three Wise Men and the tragedy of the shepherds to the misery of the the innkeeper and his wife.Norah Lofts was not an author I knew of when I picked up How Far to Bethlehem at the Five Colleges Book Sale last spring. Not only was the child not his but she had never known a man. Just as the three men began their journey, a young girl stood bravely before her betrothed husband in Nazareth trying to find the words to tell him that she was pregnant.

It was Balthazar, the escaped slave with a wonderful knowledge of languages, who helped them find their way across hazardous and violent country to Judea. Providence took him to the barbarian king, Gaspar, who wanted to know if this great King in the East would be a threat to his empire. But Melchior was old, poor and unwise in the ways of men. He knew at once that it was his task to find the child and warn its parents. Melchior had never seen anything like it the star was so bright, so full of tragedy and glory.

How Far to Bethlehem? by Norah Lofts