The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Hays, Katy. The Cloisters. Atria Books, 2022.

Katy Hays first-person narrative, The Cloisters, follows the life of Ann Stilwell after she moves to New York and begins studying Medieval divination as a Summer Associate at The Cloisters. At the outset of the novel, Ann left her hometown, Walla Walla, Washington, shortly after her father’s death. She had lived at home while attending Whitman College because she could not afford to live on campus. While her father taught her multiple languages and would translate Medieval transcripts with her, Ann wanted more than the limited world of scholarship available in her hometown. When she arrived in New York City, the director of human resources at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, told her that they no longer had a position available. However, the curator from The Cloisters, Patrick Roland announced that he was understaffed and asked her to work with him for the summer. At The Cloisters, Ann was tasked with working alongside Rachel Mondray, researching early divination in Medieval times. Patrick had a theory that tarot was used in the occult before the Renaissance. As the summer progressed, Ann fell into a rhythm of constant work, and began dating the gardener at The Cloisters, Leo. While he attended to the gardens by day, Leo was also an aspiring playwright and bassist in a punk band. When Ann ran into him at the greenmarket, he was selling herbal mixtures and amulets made from medicinal plants he grew in The Cloisters gardens. Rachel warned her not to let the relationship distract her from the research.

As the novel progresses, Patrick became increasingly frustrated by the lack of progresses he had made in the research. One day, he asked Ann to accompanying him to Ketch Rare Books and Antiques. The proprietor, Stephen Ketch was unconcerned with provenance and willing to procure artifacts through unconventional means. At the shop, Patrick handed Ann a packet of tarot cards before slipping into the next room. As Ann held them, she accidently dislodged a false front on a card and realized that the deck seemed to be a fake because the original imagery was covered. She hid the card in her purse and disclosed the discovery to Rachel later on. They agreed to keep the true nature of the cards a secret, afraid that Patrick would take credit for their work. As Rachel and Ann worked together at The Cloisters, their friendship became more intimate, and Rachel invited the narrator to Long Lake. In the Adirondacks, at her family’s summer home, Rachel disclosed that three years ago her parents died on the lake in a boating accident. When they returned to New York, she asked Ann to move in with her.

Shortly after, Patrick arranged a late-night tarot reading in the library and asked Leo to brew ancient medicinal herbs for them to experience the cards as the users would have in the 15th century. The next morning, when Ann woke up, her memory was foggy. When she entered the museum, she found Patrick’s lifeless body on the floor. Rachel insisted that he was alive when she left him the previous evening. As the police investigated his death, they found copious amount of belladonna in his system. Initially Ann was unsure who to suspect but when she discovered stolen good from The Cloisters in Leo’s apartment, she assumed that he had motive to kill the curator if he had found out. The police overturned the gardens and arrested Leo. Rachel had rebuffed the warnings about Rachel, from Laure and Aruna, throughout the summer but became suspicious of her blasé demeanor after Patrick’s death. When she broke into the penthouse, she found a stolen brooch from the museum. Later, Leo told her that Rachel had masterminded the thefts and put him in touch with Steph Ketch. Ann began to investigate Rachel’s past and discovered how she could have killed her parents while making it look like an accident. When they went up to Long Lake together, one last time, Ann confronted her about Patrick’s murder. She removed the plugs and lifejackets from the sailboats, convinced that she had no choice. She allowed herself to remember hitting her father with her car in Walla Walla and leaving the scene. Ann believed that fate is guiding her decision at Long Lake in the same manner it did after she accidently killed her father. When she returned to New York, Michelle informed her that Rachel died in a boating accident and offered her a full time position at The Cloisters.