Already a hit in the US, where it has been compared to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, Katy Hays’s debut novel is about tarot, obsession, academic jealousy and Renaissance magic. This subject matter will intrigue many and discourage others. I was initially in the latter category, but it turns out that Hays is a writer who can skilfully navigate the narrow territory between suspense and melodrama.
The main character is Ann Stilwell, a young woman from Washington state who has just graduated from her local college. Ann is fascinated by the “overlooked edges of the Renaissance … their gilt and pageantry … their performance of power”. She loves small objects that “might make me bigger by association”.
