The Cloisters

Reviews / Votes

Beguiling and atmospheric, an entrancing and gripping tale. -- KATE MOSSE, author of Labyrinth Elegant and atmospheric and suffused with brooding menace, The Cloisters transports us to the dark corridors of museum life, embroiling the reader in a twisting mystery, while also intelligently exploring the nature of fate versus freewill. -- LUCY CLARKE, author of The Castaways Glamour, power, seduction, ambition - The Cloisters has it all. I adored this deliciously gothic, beautifully written novel. -- LOUISE O'NEILL, author of Idol This is a modern, Gothic masterpiece. Successfully linking modern critical thinking with the divinity of the past, and human nature's desire to believe that there is something else out there. 9/10 * INDEPENDENT * The dark and enigmatic world of The Cloisters captured me from the off . . . a story of academic obsession, Renaissance magic and the ruthless pursuit of power. Captivating in every sense. -- SARAH PEARSE, author of The Sanatorium Sultry and sinister . . . Hays' debut teems with sexual tension, the secrets of divination, and scholarly obsessiveness . . . jaw-dropping. -- SARAH PENNER, author of The Lost Apothecary A sinister slow burn tale of obsession, power, secrets and academic rivalry . . . it's been weeks since I finished the book and I'm still impressed by how much it affected me. **** * CULTUREFLY * 'Dark and compelling . . . richly atmospheric and full of historic detail, it draws the reader into its world of the archive and the occult. As its central mystery unfolds amid the stifling heat of a New York Summer it soon becomes clear that nobody in it is quite who they first appear.' -- SALLY HINCHCLIFFE, author of Hare House Like the moment before a thunderstorm on a summer afternoon, The Cloisters is sultry, lush, and trembling with menace. * JULIA MAY JONAS, author of Vladimir * In Hays' hands, the subject of tarot is a fascinating one and the twists and turns come thick and fast. It's full of menace. * DAILY EXPRESS *