The Cloisters by Katy Hays

Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval and Renaissance collections.

There she is drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, each with their own secrets and desires, including the museum’s curator, Patrick Roland, who is convinced that the history of Tarot holds the key to unlocking contemporary fortune telling.

Relieved to have left her troubled past behind and eager for the approval of her new colleagues, Ann is only too happy to indulge some of Patrick’s more outlandish theories. But when Ann discovers a mysterious, once-thought lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards she suddenly finds herself at the centre of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship and ambition.

And as the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide whether she is truly able to defy the cards and shape her own future…

Bringing together the modern and the arcane, The Cloisters is a rich, thrillingly-told tale of obsession and the ruthless pursuit of power.

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I’ll be completely honest – I was initially drawn to this novel because of its gorgeous cover, and the image above doesn’t quite do it justice.  My attention caught, I read the blurb and decided to give it a go, more intrigued by the mention of “power, toxic friendship, and ambition” than Tarot and the element of fatalism mentioned in the blurb.

Ann has graduated and, hoping to move into academia, secures a summer placement at the Met in New York.  After some confusion, she is assigned to the Cloisters, a gothic museum that is less well known yet which seems much more suited to Ann’s own areas of study and interest.  There, she falls under the spell of fellow placement, Rachel, who is considered something of a wunderkind in academic circles, and the museum’s curator, Patrick.  Their focus is on Tarot cards and divination, seeking to add legitimacy to cartomancy despite Tarot’s early origins as a trump-taking card game, only becoming associated with divination much more recently.

Ann is an interesting character, albeit one who is a little frustrating at first.  This is the first time she’s left home and while that might result in some nervousness, she is awkward in the extreme around others.  She also seems quite naïve, following Rachel’s lead and letting her take control, occasionally against her better judgement.  While she is frustrating at the beginning, I love the way her character develops over the course of the novel.  It’s subtle, but Ann learns well from those around her, gaining confidence and learning that it’s sometimes ok to put yourself first. 

The friendship that develops between Ann and Rachel seems a little odd – the two characters are so different in appearance, behaviour, and attitude that they don’t seem compatible.  Rachel is one of those for whom everything just seems to happen effortlessly – she’s intelligent and already well-known for her academic achievements despite having only recently graduated.  She always seems calm, never becoming flustered where others might.  She is wealthy, dresses well, and looks good.  The two don’t have a lot in common, and yet Rachel takes Ann under her wing, and Ann is more than happy to let Rachel take control.  I couldn’t help but question whether she was right to do so – Rachel doesn’t seem to do anything that doesn’t benefit her in some way, and I wondered what she was getting out of it.  It’s fascinating to see this element of the novel play out. 

As Ann, Rachel, and Patrick’s area of interest, The Cloisters does focus on Tarot cards, and while I’m not one for divination, the history and interpretation of Tarot cards as presented here is fascinating.  Ann is initially a sceptic, and yet comes to find meaning in the cards over the course of the novel, finding comfort in something that begins as idle curiosity, but develops into belief as she begins to find meaning in the cards.  While I personally believe that you can spin anything enough to make it fit and have meaning, it does work very well in the context of the novel. 

I did find the plot a little slow to move along.  There are hints on the first page of what’s to come as the novel is narrated retrospectively, but it takes quite a long time to come about.  If the pace could have been a little quicker, I will say that Hays does atmosphere very well.  I love the vibes of the gothic museum in which Ann finds herself, and you can almost feel the humidity of New York in August coming off the pages.  It’s incredibly evocative. 

Overall, The Cloisters is a novel that I enjoyed but didn’t love.  There is a twist towards the end that felt as though it were there simply to add a twist rather than being necessary to the plot, although I did find the ending itself pleasing.  It’s a novel that is bound to draw comparisons to The Secret History for having an outsider joining a small, enigmatic clique, yet never fully becoming “inner circle” or sharing in all of that group’s secrets.  While I preferred Donna Tartt’s novel, this is no carbon copy or attempted rip off, but a novel that holds its own, and it’s one that I recommend if you’re looking for an intriguing mystery with a hint of mystique about it.