Paula McLain’s work continues to pull in new audiences.

On Tuesday, Jan. 6, the New York Times bestselling author’s novel Skylark was announced as Good Morning America’s January book club pick. McLain tells PEOPLE exclusively why the book’s historical setting, which intertwines two stories set in different centuries in Paris, were so important to her — and the story.

“This story’s moved through the same city. The same streets, the same underground. The place itself becomes a bridge,” McLain tells PEOPLE.

“Writing them side-by-side made history feel not abstract at all, but quite intimate and was thrilling, in fact, to see how these two narratives ripple and ping and echo against one another through time,” she adds. 

The first of the two tales takes place in 1664, following Alouette Voland. As the daughter of a tapestry dryer, she dreams of making her own art one day. But things change when her father is jailed. Trying to free him has its consequences as she finds herself under similar circumstances.

However, Alouette finds hope in an unexpected group of allies in the asylum where she’s imprisoned.

Paris is also the backdrop for medical student Kristof Larson who begins his medical residency in 1939. Skylark follows the doctor as he helps his Jewish neighbors when Nazis enter the city, even as it puts his own career at risk.

“Writing Skylark felt like excavating two buried stories that demanded to be told together,” The Paris Wife author previously told PEOPLE in June 2025. “I was captivated by the idea of Paris as a city with secrets — the underground tunnels and forgotten histories that mirror the glittering surface we all know.”

“Both Alouette in 1664 and Kristof in the early 1940s are fighting for the right to determine their own destinies, discovering that sometimes the most radical act is simply refusing to let others define your worth,” she added of the historical fiction book. 

Game of Thrones alum Michiel Huisman and Angel actress Alexa Davalos narrate the audiobook version.

“Bringing Kristof to life in the Skylark audiobook was a special experience,” Huisman told PEOPLE in a December 2025 statement. “Paula McLain has crafted a sweeping, emotional journey, and I’m grateful for the chance to help listeners experience it in such an intimate way. I can’t wait for listeners to hear it!”

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Davalos, who said the book “took my breath away,” added, “Paula McLain has masterfully woven a stunning exploration of love and tenacity, the darkness the world can plunge us into, and the passions that keep our hearts alight — that keep us alive when nothing else could.”

She continued, “It teaches us to not only dare to dream but dream to dare. What a gift and an honor to be able to read these words aloud, and to have had the chance to spend this time with these indelible characters.”

Skylark is available now, wherever books are sold.