Skylark by Paula McLain
Published by Atria Books
Publication date: January 6, 2026
Genres: Fiction, Historical
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A young woman is imprisoned in an insane asylum in the 1600s. A psychiatric medical student in Paris in the 1940s is faced with the realities of the Nazi invasion. These two unrelated characters sit at the center of Paula McLain’s latest novel, Skylark, because both are forced to venture into the darkest parts of Paris in order to find freedom.
Alouette comes from a family of dyers. Her father has spent his life creating the dyes used in the world famous Gobelin tapestries. She is obsessed with the process, but as a woman, is relegated to being a laundress. When her father is accused of crimes against the Gobelins she attempts to save him only to find herself tried and sent to a women’s asylum known for its brutality despite falling under the purview of the Catholic Church.
Kristof has come to Paris from the Netherlands to work at a psychiatric hospital in 1940. He befriends his neighbors, a Jewish family who have escaped from Poland. After the Maginot Line falls their situation becomes precarious as does the environment at the hospital for many of the patients. When the Nazis begin arresting and deporting Jews Kristof is forced to decide whether he will safely stand by or take action.
For both Alouette and Kristof circumstances push them into dangerous and unexpected territory. For Alouette it is the desire to achieve and to be seen. For Kristof it is about doing the right thing and the lingering guilt over not doing enough for a loved one. Skylark traces their separate paths and how their determination to survive on their own terms leads them down into the vast network of century’s old quarry tunnels. These dark fetid spaces are no more unsafe than the lives they’re living aboveground.
Alouette’s and Kristof’s stories are compelling, but by pairing them in one novel it gave the feeling that neither was enough to stand on its own. Instead, they progress through the pages separately, never coming together. The slender filament between the two of Paris’ catacombs is not enough to create any feeling of connection. Nor is enough time spent in the tunnels to make it feel like the integral element I was expecting. These two aspects made the novel feel fragmented and resulted in a pace that lurched between the two wildly different times and plots. McLain’s writing is as beautiful as ever and Skylark is solid historical fiction. Just not one of my favorite of her novels.
If you’ve never read McLain, I’d recommend Circling the Sun, my favorite.
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*I received a free copy of this book from Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.*
I loved this book. Although there were two timelines, they are tied together not only by place but by the struggles that Alouette and Kristof endured and overcame at the hands of those who were in power. Each found a way to overcome horrific events while at the same time saving the lives of those who were even less fortunate than they were. There are many parallels between what is happening in the world today and what was happening in the world during Alouette’s and Kristof’s times.
I definitely saw the parallels between their worlds and ours right now. I just didn’t feel a connection between them.
I heard McClain on a podcast and she said she wrote both stories as stand alone stories and then she went to the office of her editor and they figured out how to merge the 2 stories into 1 book. So it makes sense that you had a disjointed reading experience!
Thank you for this. I had no idea, but it makes perfect sense.