Article contributed by Ellen Orange
A seductive dark academia debut from Katy Hays, The Cloisters is a tale of the occult, obsession, and deadly secrets. Could the cards decide your fate or do you make your own?
In a genre popularised by BookTok and comprising of well-loved classics like The Secret History, Hays’ new novel has a lot to live up to. The Cloisters is perfectly poised between the academic intrigue of tarot in regards to the history of art, and the melodrama of fate and divination.
Graduate Ann Stilwell is moving to New York escaping the confines of her small western town, where she has been perpetually overlooked. The academic world operates on wealth, privilege and connections. Without these, Ann has failed to secure a coveted space on a graduate program and she’s hoping a summer internship at the Met will change that. However, in mysterious circumstances, Ann’s original mentor is overseas. She is instead whisked into a world of secrecy and intrigue in the ‘Cloisters’—a secluded research space away from the the central museum. A real part of the museum, located in Washington Heights, the Romanesque and Gothic building was erected from stones of medieval French and Spanish abbeys, and research there focuses on medieval European art. The gothic setting of the Cloisters is wonderfully conjured. Its corridors of ancient artefacts, dusty and dusty storerooms are a haven of knowledge, contrasted with a luscious garden brimming with life, and death. The Cloisters is a site of secrets, and clandestine affairs, simmering in the heat of a New York summer.
Here, Ann works under the tutelage of Patrick, an enigmatic curator, to delve into the history of tarot and its use in divination, alongside the glamorous Rachel who seems to have everything that Ann does not. Rachel is rich, charming, effortlessly beautiful and successful. Their friendship deepens, and Ann is gradually pulled into Rachel’s opulent and wealthy world.
During a oppressively hot summer, their research deepens and Patrick becomes obsessed with finding a particular deck. He believes these cards from the 15th Century would prove the historical use of tarot for divination—a revolutionary discovery for an overlooked field of study. Ann and Rachel become caught up in his fervour, questioning the nature of fate and free will as the mystery and potential of the cards becomes intoxicating. Academic ambitions fuel jealousies and tensions amongst the trio, and Ann becomes embroiled in relationships and affairs which leave her trapped in a complex web of loyalty, desire and manipulation. The beautiful setting of the Cloisters soon becomes stifling and oppressive under the weight of these tensions. Eventually the trio’s growing obsession with the power of the cards leads to dark secrets and deadly consequences.
Hays blends genres, employing tropes of not only dark academia but also mystery thrillers. The dark academia genre is expertly employed to create an atmosphere suffused with secrets, scandal and intrigue. The use of tarot cards, and the interweaving themes of fate and art are fascinating—you don’t need to understand tarot to appreciate the references made. Hays does a fantastic job of interweaving the academic history of card use, as well as the supernatural lore around tarot into her tale.
Ann can be a frustrating narrator, often making terrible decisions, but constantly keeping you hooked. Dark academia often employs characters who are morally grey, or outright unlikable, and Hays cleverly uses this trope to create a cast of characters you won’t forget and who will keep you on your toes.
Whether you love tarot and the occult, dark academia, or even just a gripping mystery thriller, The Cloisters is a mesmerising and darkly beguiling novel.
The Cloisters is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she expects to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval art collection and its group of enigmatic researchers studying the history of divination.
Desperate to escape her painful past, Ann is happy to indulge the researchers’ more outlandish theories about the history of fortune telling. But what begins as academic curiosity quickly turns into obsession when Ann discovers a hidden 15th-century deck of tarot cards that might hold the key to predicting the future. When the dangerous game of power, seduction, and ambition at The Cloisters turns deadly, Ann becomes locked in a race for answers as the line between the arcane and the modern blurs.
A haunting and magical blend of genres, The Cloisters is a gripping debut that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
