There’s a lot of history woven into the book, particularly regarding art and tarot cards. What was your research process like? 

Like many academics, a research rabbit hole is my happy place! But surprisingly, I found very little existing scholarship on Renaissance tarot. When that happens, as a researcher, you start to look at topics that might intersect or surround the lacuna so you can set the scene. In the case of tarot, that meant turning to questions of chance (particularly as they related to card play), as well as fate, fortune, and free will. Renaissance Europe, and Italy in particular, were absolutely obsessed with these issues, and that literature offered me more than enough material to work with!

Is there anything you learned that you wish could have made it into the book? 

I read a wonderful book by Mary Quinlan-McGrath, Influences: Art, Optics, and Astrology in the Italian Renaissance. In it, Quinlan-McGrath argues that anyone with a bit of power during the Renaissance (Popes, aristocrats, philosophers, etc) believed that painted representations of celestial bodies could impact someone’s horoscope. I remember reading her book and thinking: this is absolutely the weirdest thing I have ever read! For example, if my Mercury is in Scorpio and I’m standing under a constellation of Taurus, just standing under the painting will make my communication sluggish? What? I wish more of that could have made it in!

“Atmospheric” is the perfect word to describe The Cloisters. How did you get in the mindset to write something so sensory? 

I was working on the book during covid, so while I had visited The Cloisters many years before, it wasn’t possible to go travel there while I was writing the book. To fill the gaps, I relied heavily on google street view, which allowed me to “walk” through Fort Tryon Park, see the exterior of the museum, and “walk” other streets in New York. Additionally, through my teaching work, I knew The Met had incredible digital resources to support their collections. That access was critical to completing the book. But also, I have to say—a playlist of Gregorian Chants helped, too! 

One quote that stuck with me in The Cloisters was: “Your interpretation of choice is a luxury, a curtain that separates us from fate.” Ann and the other characters ruminate on themes of fate throughout the book. Did writing this book clarify your own thoughts on fate versus free will? If so, what are they? 

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of luck. Luck is a spark, a scrap of magic, something we can’t control, but that seems essential. In that sense, I’ve always considered luck and fate to be twins or, at a bare minimum, kissing cousins. I believe, like many, that choice and free-will remain our primary source of power, and give life shape and meaning. But there’s no denying that something outside of our control—fate, luck, chance, fortuna—also plays a vital and sometimes outsized role in our lives.     

Ann is perpetually conscious of her outsider status in the worlds of art and academia, and you pull the veil back on its uglier sides, such as how much it’s permeated by nepotism, gatekeeping, and privilege. What do you hope readers learn about the interworking’s of these institutions? 

I don’t think academia has cornered the market on nepotism, gatekeeping, or privileged! And I do have to say that I think museums like The Met are working hard to turn the page when it comes to these outmoded ways of working and hiring. But what I think remains true about academia and the art world is the extent to which a pedigree matters. It doesn’t have to be familial, but it does need to be institutional—the right schools, internships, recommenders. Those elements decide the outcome of someone’s career and that quality—being anointed, almost—happens early. 

Do you have a favorite tarot card? And if so, what makes it your favorite? 

This will come as no surprise—the Wheel of Fortune is my favorite card. It’s a deeply lucky card.  That said, I primarily use a classic Rider-Waite deck, and I’m always happy to see just about any card…so long as it’s not a sword. That suit makes me nervous!

Can you tell us a bit about what you're working on now?

Sure!  I’m currently working on a novel that reimagines the House of Thebes, and particularly, the legacy of Harmonia’s necklace, a cursed object in antiquity that brough misfortune to any woman who wore it. It’s a family drama, set over the course of a wedding weekend in Italy, that deals with desire, social taboos, money, and creative ambition. I’m thinking of it as a cursed Succession meets The Guest List.  

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Read LJ's starred review of The Cloisters here