The Cloisters by Katy Hays
Katy Hays’ debut is dark, seductive and captivating. The first page tumbles into the next and the next, the entire book unfolding in the course of one sitting — it is utterly unputdownable. Exploring fate, class divides, magic and history, The Cloisters (Atria) is a grand piece of fiction that dark academia fans won’t want to miss.
STUDYING THE PAST TO SEE THE FUTURE
When Ann Stilwell’s summer internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gets canceled — after moving her entire life across the country — she isn’t surprised by her misfortune. But the chance to work at the Cloisters appears as quickly as her last opportunity disappears, and she can’t say no.
Ann is a scholar of Renaissance art, history and language — subjects that many people think leave nothing new to discover. But in her role in the archives, she is tasked with researching a 15th-century deck of tarot cards that everyone believes holds a deeper secret.
An intellectual investigation into divination and fortune-telling soon becomes an obsession when she discovers that these cards might be the key to telling the future. Despite warnings to keep her distance from the subject matter and from the people, Ann is pulled beyond academic curiosity into the occult, the unfamiliar and the dangerous. She needs to know what is going on, and why.
DARK ACADEMIA FOR DONNA TARTT AND LEIGH BARDUGO FANS
Reminiscent of The Secret History, Ninth House and If We Were Villains, the plot and characters are equally alluring. Each character makes you want to dig deeper, uncovering their desires and motivations. There is Rachel, a confident, secretive, and gorgeous apprentice who piques the readers’ curiosity at first mention. Leo, the young gardener, is forward and endearing, with a deep knowledge of botany and phytotoxicology. But both are more than meets the eye, readers will quickly learn.
Both characters are charming, mysterious and wholly untrustworthy to anyone who glimpses their secrets lingering beneath the surface. Patrick, the middle-aged, handsome curator leading the research project, is magnetic — Ann is as quickly drawn to him and his work as the reader is.
Ann serves as an intriguing narrator and an outsider. Haunted by the loss of her father and a grieving mother, she craves the comfort of an unfamiliar place, somewhere she can turn to only in her studies. The Cloisters feels more like home to her than any other place, with its stone walls, chilling libraries and ancient artifacts. Ann finds comfort sequestered away, buried in ancient texts and historic walls, studying the deck of tarot cards.
But at first, she is a nonbeliever, knowing that what others call “fate” is often random and unprecedented. Still, she devotes her time to the study of arcane magic, astrology and prophecy. When she learns that there is more than meets the eye, a world of possibility opens up for her.
IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN
The Cloisters has lived up to its label as a “most-anticipated” book by several publications. Publishers Weekly says, “Readers will be fascinated by the evocative setting as well as the behind-the-scenes glimpses into museum curatorship and the cutthroat games of academia.” What will captivate readers the most is the murder that is introduced on the first page, lingering in the periphery until the plot catches up to it.
Readers will be wary of everything they’re introduced to — the shadowy characters, the gothic halls of the Cloisters, the poisonous plants, and the tarot deck brimming with intrigue and magic. Ideally, this book would be read by candlelight in a grand research library, but you’ll do just as well tucked away in your home, reading in the dark until all hours of the night.
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