Reviews for Skylark : a novel
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Two urgent stories of survival, set nearly 300 years apart, are connected by treks through Paris’ ancient underground tunnels. In 17th-century France, dyer’s daughter Alouette Voland’s ambitions (she dreams of selling her own formulas for fabric hues) land her in Salpêtrière, a dread women’s madhouse. In mid-20th-century Paris, Dutch medical doctor Kristof Larsen finds his psychiatric practice disrupted by Nazi invasion. While their concerns and paths diverge, these characters share a commitment to truth and justice, qualities discouraged in their eras. Take, for example, the bigoted concierge of Kristof’s apartment building, or the elitist noblewoman who runs Salpêtrière, the rapist madhouse guards, and the nasty Gestapo officers—whether it’s 1664 or 1939, cruelty, greed, and self-interest spring up regularly in human history. Fortunately, so do kindness, compassion, and valor, all of which Alouette, Kristof, and their small bands of stalwart friends demonstrate as they seek to escape and help others, too. Since the dual-narrative structure presses urgently toward resolution for both groups, Alouette and Kristof’s friends seem less like secondary characters than people whose stories you’d like to learn more of when the time is right: Marguerite, who keeps a ledger of crimes by madhouse workers; Alesander Extebarria, Kristof’s Basque comrade who understands wartime subterfuge; and Sasha Brodsky, whose Jewish identity both destroys her once-placid life and gives her the determination to stay alive. The book opens after the terrible fire at Notre Dame de Paris in 2019, as a conservator finds an exquisite fragment of stained glass etched with a skylark. Alouette’s beloved, Étienne, is a miner who once carved a tiny stone skylark for her because of her name. Wisely, McLain does not force a skylark into Kristof and Sasha’s story, instead allowing this avian symbol to lightly land as a reminder of transcendent hope. Although very little ties the two stories together, perhaps their shared thread of resolve is enough. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
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Winding through the vast network of tunnels below Paris, McLain’s riveting latest (after When the Stars Go Dark) combines the stories of a 17th-century prison break and a WWII physician’s role in the French Resistance. In 1664, Alouette Voland falls in love with Étienne Duchamp, a mason who is working on expanding the city’s catacombs. But their relationship stalls when Alouette’s efforts to free her wrongfully imprisoned father land her in Salpêtrière asylum. After hatching an escape plan, Alouette and some of her fellow prisoners descend into the tunnels below the asylum. In a parallel narrative, psychiatrist Kristof Larsen bonds with his Jewish neighbors during the German occupation when he helps with the birth of their youngest child. After the family is arrested by the Nazis and their teenage daughter, Sasha, is freed, Kristof helps Sasha and other Jewish teenagers navigate the tunnels to get away from the Germans. McLain expertly juxtaposes the courageous actions of both Alouette and Kristof as they seek freedom for themselves and others and embrace the challenges and dangers of the subterranean maze. Fans of stirring historicals won’t want to miss this. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group. (Jan.)
Library Journal
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McLain, best known for The Paris Wife, returns to historical fiction and Paris (both above ground and below) with a dual-timeline tale. In 1664, Alouette Voland's attempt to perfect her recipe for a new shade of blue dye is interrupted when her father Rene, a master dyer at the Gobelin Tapestry Works, is arrested for selling trade secrets. For her efforts to free her father from prison, Alouette is sent to the infamous Salpêtrière asylum, where she is confined with other women deemed "mad" by the state. In 1939, Dutch medical student Kristof Larson is just beginning his residency at Sainte-Anne's Psychiatric Hospital in Paris when German forces begin occupying the city. After discovering the Nazis' impending plans for his hospital, Kristof must decide how far he will go to protect not only his patients but other Parisians, including his Jewish neighbors, the Brodskys. Readers will be enthralled by McLain's vivid storytelling, engaged with her memorable cast of characters, and enraged at the cruelties humans have exacted on one another throughout history. VERDICT Love, loss, courage, and compassion play key roles in this powerful novel that effectively conveys the importance of doing whatever one can to help during difficult times.—John Charles
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Set in Paris during two periods in history, this gripping novel charts the journeys of characters forced to risk everything to survive. In 1664, 18-year-old Alouette is a washerwoman in a dye-works factory, aspiring to be an expert dyer despite societal barriers. When Alouette’s father is arrested, an attempt to clear his name leads to her own sentence. Under brutal conditions, Alouette finds strength alongside fellow prisoners and, with a burgeoning secret, must rely on her own resourcefulness. Alternating with this story is that of sensitive psychiatrist Kristof and his young neighbor Sasha in 1939. Haunted by the loss of his sister and the patients he treats, Kristof befriends Sasha’s family, who live in the apartment below his. When Nazi forces occupy Paris, and Jewish families are forced from their homes, Kristof joins the resistance to ferry Sasha to safety, culminating in a perilous trek through Paris' underground tunnels. With fine-tuned historical detail, McLain’s (Love and Ruin, 2018) latest is a compelling tale of human will, resilience, and connection.
