⭐⭐⭐⭐ Skylark by Paula McLain is an atmospheric, deeply researched novel that brings the darker side of historical Paris vividly to life. I found it highly educational, especially the sections involving the Salpêtrière asylum and the cruel treatment of the thousands of women confined there. Equally fascinating were the Paris catacombs, where human remains were interred after the city’s above-ground cemeteries grew too full of bodies. The images of the bones of more than six million people, carefully arranged beneath the crowded streets of Paris, are absolutely chilling. The novel follows two parallel stories. In 1664, Alouette Voland, the daughter of a master dyer at the Gobelin Tapestry Works, is […]