Book Summary and Reviews of Skylark by Paula McLain

Book Summary

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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Skylark was inspired by the real-life network of tunnels under Paris. Were you at all familiar with these and their history prior to reading the novel? What did you discover that surprised you about the history of Paris while reading Skylark?
2. At the start of the novel, Alouette and her father's lives revolve entirely around the world of fabric dye. She says that colors from "legendary crimsons, impossible indigos" to "Tyrian purple" occupy every free space in their lives, and bleed into the occupied ones. What does their obsession reveal about their characters and about the society in which they live? What did you make of the fact that the right to wear certain colors was reserved for people of high social rank? Today, what do ...