Book review: Skylark by Paula McLain
Genre: Historical fiction
Release date: January 6, 2026
Goodreads rating: 4.18
My rating: 3.75
This post contains affiliate links that earn us a commission at no cost to you.
This helps to support the work of The Bookish Bulletin.
Feminism, resistance, courage, hope, and legacy… Skylark by Paula McLain has it all… and takes you into the secret passages of France too!
The story unfolds in two distinct timelines. In 1664 Paris, we meet Alouette, the daughter of a master dyer who is determined to make a name for herself. Her ambition, however, ends in her arrest and imprisonment in La Salpêtrière, France’s infamous insane asylum. And in 1939 Paris, we meet Kristof, a doctor at a local psychiatric hospital, who must decide whether—and how—to act in the face of the Nazi extermination program.
The book starts out slowly but I enjoyed the solid character development (and devoured the last half of the book in a single evening!) I did wonder what tied the two stories together at first but common threads gradually emerged: the treatment and perception of mental health across the centuries, the strength of the human spirit, the human drive for survival, the courage of acting on your beliefs, and the legacy that each generation leaves behind. But mostly, both take you down into Paris’ underground tunnels, and highlight the role of those tunnels in pivotal moments in France’s history.
I gravitated most to Alouette’s story for two reasons: I had never stopped to wonder how colours and dyes came to be, and the work (and politics) put into discovering and bringing these to market. And I had never read a book that takes you inside La Salpêtrière. I’ve only seen this asylum depicted as a building that people enter but never come out of. I was curious to see behind the curtain.
I enjoyed this book. In it, I find that Paula McLain pays quiet tribute to lives that society tried to erase but that—collectively—were pivotal in bringing society (and humanity) back on track.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for granting me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Or search for similar books here
Other books you may enjoy:
