Norah Lofts remarkable novel retells the story of the Nativity from the Annunciation to the Birth of Christ, and in it she has sought to reveal the motives and emotions of the characters as they converged on the humble stable in Bethlehem. With immense care and a superb sense of history she has re-created this most wonderful of tales with compassion, understanding, freshness and faith. It opens in Nazareth where Mary, who has been visited by the Angel Gabriel, prepared for her forthcoming marriage to Joseph and shows with astonishing clarity the fears and joys she felt as she learned of her appointed task. The author has combined all her talents as historian, psychologist and writer to produce a novel which is scholarly, moving and intensely readable.