NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK!
The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife weaves a mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below—where a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time.
1664: Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at the famed Gobelin Tapestry Works, who secretly dreams of escaping her circumstances and creating her own masterpiece. When her father is unjustly imprisoned, Alouette's efforts to save him lead to her own confinement in the notorious Salpêtrière asylum, where thousands of women are held captive and cruelly treated. But within its grim walls, she discovers a small group of brave allies, and the possibility of a life bigger than she ever imagined.
1939: Kristof Larson is a medical student beginning his psychiatric residency in Paris, whose neighbors on the Rue de Gobelins are a Jewish family who have fled Poland. When Nazi forces descend on the city, Kristof becomes their only hope for survival, even as his work as a doctor is jeopardized.
A spellbinding and transportive look at a side of Paris known to very few—the underground city that is a mirror reflection of the glories above''Paula McLain’s unforgettable new novel chronicles two parallel journeys of defiance and rescue that connect in ways both surprising and deeply moving.
Genre: Historical
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK!
The New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife weaves a mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below—where a woman’s quest for artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation in the 1940s, revealing a story of courage and resistance that transcends time.
1664: Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at the famed Gobelin Tapestry Works, who secretly dreams of escaping her circumstances and creating her own masterpiece. When her father is unjustly imprisoned, Alouette's efforts to save him lead to her own confinement in the notorious Salpêtrière asylum, where thousands of women are held captive and cruelly treated. But within its grim walls, she discovers a small group of brave allies, and the possibility of a life bigger than she ever imagined.
1939: Kristof Larson is a medical student beginning his psychiatric residency in Paris, whose neighbors on the Rue de Gobelins are a Jewish family who have fled Poland. When Nazi forces descend on the city, Kristof becomes their only hope for survival, even as his work as a doctor is jeopardized.
A spellbinding and transportive look at a side of Paris known to very few—the underground city that is a mirror reflection of the glories above''Paula McLain’s unforgettable new novel chronicles two parallel journeys of defiance and rescue that connect in ways both surprising and deeply moving.
Genre: Historical
Praise for this book
"A magnificent book with prose that is lush, seductive, and velvet-rich. This big, bold, deep, satisfying literary adventure is a stunning tour-de-force." - Adrienne Brodeur
"From its very first moment, Skylark held me so close it felt like we shared a heartbeat. Intimate and sweeping, this novel celebrates the rare kind of bravery that resounds for centuries through the streets of our beloved cities and in our bleakest times of war and fear. I'm convinced no one in the world can write like Paula McLain. Vital and prescient, she is absolutely one of the finest writers of our age." - Amy Jo Burns
"Paula McLain returns to Paris, the setting of her most celebrated novel, to intertwine two eras of upheaval with masterful precision. Seductive, subversive, and impossible to put down, Skylark shines a light into the darkest corners of history, revealing the enduring strength of the human spirit." - Christina Baker Kline
"A resounding elegy of love, courage, and defiance. Paula McLain melds two timelines and one city into the kind of story you think about long after you've finished reading. Mysterious and haunting and timeless. I loved it." - Ariel Lawhon
"Paula McLain is a story alchemist. In Skylark, she saturates our imaginations with the colorful threads of two distinct timelines. Artfully crafted and poetically rendered, this is the kind of historical fiction I live for - stories where the past acts as a mirror for the modern milieu." - Sarah McCoy
"Above all, Skylark is the gift of a brilliant storyteller. . . If she were not a superb novelist, McLain most surely would be a painter - what brilliant colors, images, and textures. Toward the end, I was holding my breath - the stunning ending will resonate long after the book is closed." - Frances Mayes
"An enthralling plunge into deep layers of Paris history, both beautifully written and breathtakingly suspenseful. I could not put it down." - Helen Simonson
"From its very first moment, Skylark held me so close it felt like we shared a heartbeat. Intimate and sweeping, this novel celebrates the rare kind of bravery that resounds for centuries through the streets of our beloved cities and in our bleakest times of war and fear. I'm convinced no one in the world can write like Paula McLain. Vital and prescient, she is absolutely one of the finest writers of our age." - Amy Jo Burns
"Paula McLain returns to Paris, the setting of her most celebrated novel, to intertwine two eras of upheaval with masterful precision. Seductive, subversive, and impossible to put down, Skylark shines a light into the darkest corners of history, revealing the enduring strength of the human spirit." - Christina Baker Kline
"A resounding elegy of love, courage, and defiance. Paula McLain melds two timelines and one city into the kind of story you think about long after you've finished reading. Mysterious and haunting and timeless. I loved it." - Ariel Lawhon
"Paula McLain is a story alchemist. In Skylark, she saturates our imaginations with the colorful threads of two distinct timelines. Artfully crafted and poetically rendered, this is the kind of historical fiction I live for - stories where the past acts as a mirror for the modern milieu." - Sarah McCoy
"Above all, Skylark is the gift of a brilliant storyteller. . . If she were not a superb novelist, McLain most surely would be a painter - what brilliant colors, images, and textures. Toward the end, I was holding my breath - the stunning ending will resonate long after the book is closed." - Frances Mayes
"An enthralling plunge into deep layers of Paris history, both beautifully written and breathtakingly suspenseful. I could not put it down." - Helen Simonson
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