The Cloisters

The Cloisters by Katy Hays 320 pages

I don’t need tarot cards to let me know that Katy Hays has a big future in writing, even if it goes off the rails a bit.

When Ann arrives in New York City, ready for her summer internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she is dismayed that the job no longer exists. Instead she is sent to The Cloisters, a museum that is part of the Met to work there. I had never heard of The Cloisters and spent an entire afternoon online, learning about this medieval museum and garden. I hope to visit there someday.

But back to Hays’s debut novel. The story start rather slowly, not much happening before page 183. It does pick up as the curator, Patrick, and his assistant, Rachel, are obsessed with locating a missing tarot card from a 15-century deck that will seal their careers. They believe that finding that lost card, that is undeniably located somewhere in the museum, will set history on its ear. 

Readers who don’t much about academia and its dark side, I think, will find that aspect of the novel compelling. There are a lot of secrets that haunt the museum, but nothing earth-shattering.

Undoubtedly, this book is well written, but it lacks depth. The setting, the museum and its gardens, provide a creepy aesthetic, but the characters are shallow. “The Cloisters” receives 3 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.