Skylark

A woman's quest for artistic freedom in 17th-century Paris intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the Nazi occupation, 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. Though she loves her father, she secretly dreams of creating her own masterpiece, and knows she is more than capable of doing so. Her boldness, however, will have dangerous consequences. 

1939: Kristof Larson is a medical student beginning his psychiatric residency in Paris. He lives near the site of the historical tapestry works, sharing his home with a Jewish family who have fled Poland. When Nazi forces descend on the city, Kristof becomes his neighbours' 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, Paula McLain’s unforgettable new novel chronicles two parallel journeys of defiance and rescue that connect in ways both surprising and deeply moving.