The Cloisters: A Novel

Written by Katy Hays

Narrated by Emily Tremaine

A Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick

This instant New York Times bestseller that is “captivating in every sense of the word” (Sarah Pearse, New York Times bestselling author) follows a group of researchers uncovering a mysterious deck of tarot cards and shocking secrets in New York’s famed Met Cloisters.

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 she 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 “masterwork of literary suspense that surges to an otherworldly conclusion” (Mark Prins, author of The Latinist).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Nov 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781797150383

Katy Hays

Katy Hays is a writer and adjunct art history professor in California, where she teaches rural students from Truckee to Tecopa. She holds an MA in art history from Williams College and pursued her PhD at UC Berkeley. Having previously worked at major art institutions, including The Clark Art Institute and SF MoMA, she now lives with her husband and dog, Queso, in Olympic Valley, California. The Cloisters is her first novel.

Reviews for The Cloisters

[Dee Wallace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting read! Definitely some twists and an unexpected ending. This book will be interesting to those in the worlds of academia, history, and museum/archival studies. I only wish there had been more diving into the subject matter the characters were studying.

[Marlena Rustici · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Great descriptive writing ruined by a group of unlikeable characters.

[Marta Em · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm disappointed! There's no real mystery, nothing occult or suspenseful about the tarot, the characters are unlikable and Ann just plain stupid.

[Nora Rudnick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The characters were fascinating, motivations obscure and the plot was quick. I finished it in 2 days and loved how the author described the scene and the important artifacts from the medieval period!

[Peter Heicksen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It kept me listening to the end, and the writing was quality. The story itself was not particularly interesting though. I kept waiting for more and it just never came. This is mostly a book about relationships. There was nothing mystical about it really. There wasn't really much mystery either. I struggle to grasp what inspired the author to write this particular book...

The narration of this audiobook was halting, with a great deal of focus on enunciation. It was distracting and annoying. I will avoid this narrator in the future.

The author I might try again though, simply because she was able to keep me interested in a story that didn't end up being particularly interesting. That takes skill.

[Emily Lara · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

That was a really bad book. Full of stupidity and badly written. It was not so badly written that I didn't listen to the end. But I wish I hadn't it. It got steadily worse.

[Juliana R. · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is a weird mix of totally accurate when it comes to academia (days full of research done by egocentric ambitious nerds jockeying for attention and limited positions of power) and totally inaccurate when it comes to tarot (implying that the future the cards show can't be changed, saying there is "darkness in the cards" when there is not, failing to understand that every card has multiple meanings). I suspect the tarot aspect was added later to make this "dark academia" for marketing purposes. The book really isn't dark. It's just normal academia with a murder towards the end and tarot randomly thrown in.

[Juliette Wood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book. Low morals. This book kept me listening, wanting to know what happens next. Each of the characters are complex and I really liked the authors descriptions of their actions along with Anne's physical and mental reactions to these people. I could imagine the feel and look of the taro cards and other artifacts and loved the dark and atmospheric descriptions of everything. The thing that bothered me was the lack of morals and it left me feeling a bit empty without them. Having a belief in God or having some morals would have added more complexity or fullness to the story. In all, I would recommend this book.

[gloria glidewell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So well written and interesting. Unexpected plot twists keep you going to the end and interesting characters draw you into the story early in the story. The story has enough foreshadowing that the end is perfectly plausible but is still unexpected. The story definitely made me want to make a return trip to the Cloisters to pay more attention to the details mentioned in the narrative. The only irksome detail for me (I always hate when authors do this) is the tossing of valuable jewelry. No financially struggling person commits such waste.

[Satina Anziano · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well -written, well narrated. Since I am a New Yorker lived in Walla Walla five years, it felt personal. Intricate details of the historical period and of tarot cards make this an intelligent read. A modern day setting at the gorgeous cloisters makes it memorable. Wasn't sure if it would develop into the romance trope, boy meets girl, they lock horns, and in the end get together. But no, it is a murder mystery. Enjoy.

[Shelly Mondavi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There was lots of stuff to get through before the real story began. I did enjoy the ending, but I felt like it took too long to get there.

[Gracie Rose · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"You should be careful what you put your faith in, of course,” she continued. “Humans have a tendency to be easily romanced by the promise of knowledge."

? Dark Academia
? Renaissance Magic
? Museum Setting
? Art Dealers
? Multilingual Characters
? Love triangle
? Ancient History of Tarot Cards
♠️ Detailed Card Guide in the back of the book!
⚰ Murder-Mystety

I can't help but compare this to Sarah Penner's books The London Séance Society and The Lost Apothecary both of which were 5 stars for me! Read this if you like a FMC Historical Fiction Mystery swirled with Supernatural Occult mayhem! ??

[Geeta Patel · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mixed feeling about this one. I liked it. Almost wanted more supernatural in it I guess. Good book.

[Billie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Cloisters
by Katy Hays
Fiction Mystery
Scribd Audio

Ann gets an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but on arrival, she is told the position is no longer available. Patrick then comes into the room and offers her a position at The Cloisters, to help research medieval and Renaissance art, but at that time he and his female assistant were researching the history of Tarot.

There were a lot of details about the buildings, the characters, and the settings, but details about the main subject, Tarot cards, were lacking. Sure there were some, but for those not familiar with the cards, what descriptions there were would not show the reader how artistic most cards are. (Maybe the author was thinking readers would go out and buy their own set to see what was so special. But I doubt most readers would, thinking 'lame', because that was what most of the descriptions were.) Instead of paragraphs about the plants in the garden and how the researchers looked and acted, the Tarot should've had the spotlight.

The story wasn't much mystery until the end, and the who, what, and how wasn't that hard to guess. And the only thing that put the idea of fantasy was the mention of Tarot. There was nothing magical about this book. It was ok but boring. There wasn't detailed violence or sex, but they, and drug use, were mentioned, but it's suitable for readers sixteen and over.

2 Stars

[sarah · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

What did I just read!? Truly no plot at all.

[Angela Kelly · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A little slow on the uptake but an interesting read over all. A great reminder that we never truly know what's going on in a person's life or who a person truly is until they decide to clue you in. Confidence is great, but overconfidence can be deadly.

[Jenny deHart · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great read. The character lines and art history research interplayed seamlessly. There were revelations down to the last chapter as the protagonist came into her own.

[Rebeca Rodriguez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The way the author weaved the story with unexpected twists was superb, very artistic! I found the narration very beautiful too; the way she modulated her voice to suit each character was masterful.

[Yulia Zlotsky-Goggi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Was hoping for more. More depth, more occult, more suspense. Great idea that didn't take a full plunge on its execution.

[luisa durango · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Everything about it was dull and boring. The story never came. Good descriptives don’t make up for the lack of a story, what did end up the being the “story” in the end was not as interesting as the book is painted out to be. Surprised this was a bestseller at all. And the narrator really does feel like as if she’s talking at you and not telling a story.

[candi0parshall · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The most bleh dark academia book ever. Characters were uninteresting. So boring. Skip this one.