The Cloisters
On the wheel of fortune, who will emerge on top... and who will die?
When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she hopes 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 collection of medieval and Renaissance art.
There she is drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, including Patrick Roland, the museum's mercurial curator who specializes in the history of tarot; Rachel Mondray, Patrick's beautiful curatorial associate and sometime muse; and Leo Bitburg, the gardener who nurtures the museum's precious collection of medicinal and poison plants.
Relieved to have left her troubled past in rural Washington behind her, Ann longs for the approbation of her colleagues and peers and is happy to indulge their more outlandish theories, only to find that their fascination with fortune-telling runs deeper than academic obsession. Patrick is determined to prove that ancient divination holds the key to the foretelling of the future. And when Ann stumbles across a breakthrough in the form of a mysterious and previously-believed lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards, she finds herself at the centre of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship and ambition.
Then there is an unexpected and devastating death, and suddenly everyone becomes a suspect. As the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide if the tarot cards can not only teach her about the past, but also about her future.
Katy Hays
Katy Hays’s writing is as intricate and compelling as the art history she spent years studying. A California native, Katy’s fascination with the past, particularly the worlds captured in art and museums, ignited her journey into storytelling. But it wasn't just the past that called to her—it was the unspoken mysteries, the secrets hidden between the layers of time, and the shadows lurking behind academia that truly inspired her.
Before becoming a novelist, Katy earned an MA in Art History from Williams College and pursued doctoral studies at UC Berkeley. Her professional path took her through some of the most renowned art institutions, including The Clark Art Institute and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MoMA). These years of academic immersion shaped her perspective on storytelling, infusing her writing with a deep understanding of human nature, ambition, and the complexities of belief.
More Books Katy Hays
