High Priestess and Empress, Book Two, Arcana Oracle Series by Susan Wands

(recognized as a Distinguished Favorite by the 2024 NYC Big Book Award)

Artist and seer Pamela Colman Smith returns to London only to find her nemesis, Aleister Crowley, has resurfaced and set his sights on her. Despite his sinister efforts, Pamela continues developing her tarot deck, channeling her muses: Golden Dawn leader Florence Farr and theater star Ellen Terry. But when Ellen is poisoned, Pamela realizes Aleister won't stop until her muses are dead. When Aleister reveals his plot to assassinate Queen Victoria and all female rulers, war erupts between his Carlists and the Golden Dawn. With so many lives at stake, Pamela must access her deepest magic to win the battle of her life. 

Besides being recognized by the 2024 NYC Big Book Award, High Priestess and Empress took the 2024 OZMA 1st Place Fantasy Award; 2025 American Legacy Book Award Winner in Visionary Award; 2025 American Legacy Book Award Winner in Epic/High Fantasy Award and the 2025 IPPY Gold Medal Visionary/New Age.

Susan Wands is a writer, tarot reader, and actor. A graduate from the University of Washington, she has acted professionally across the United States and on Broadway. Her adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was produced at the Cornish Institute in Seattle and she has written plays, screenplays, and skits and produce several indie films. She was a company member in Rumble in the Red Room, an off-Broadway troupe, for four years. As a co-chair with the NYC Chapter of the Historical Novel Society, she helps produce monthly online book launches and author panels. Wands’s writings have appeared in Art in Fiction, Kindred Spirits magazine, and The Irving Society journal First Knight. She lives in NYC with her husband, actor Robert Petkoff, and two cats, Flora and Flynn.

Find out more at https://susanwands.com/.