Light on the Water
(2026)(The third book in the Historical Memphis series)
A novel by Sabra Waldfogel
Camilla Spencer has lost everything.
She arrives in Memphis widowed, penniless, and so desperate that she tries to throw herself into the Mississippi River. She’s saved by a woman she never expected to see again: Liza Armstrong, once enslaved by Camilla's father. Their lives have been linked since birth, though neither woman likes to dwell on the reasons why.
Liza has built a successful business in Memphis, a city where freedom is fragile and appearances matter more than truth. She’s bought a thriving hotel—but because of who she is, she can’t claim to own it. She needs someone to play the owner’s role.
Camilla needs a reason to go on. Liza offers one, and together, they strike an unlikely bargain. The true owner in the shadows. The face at the desk a ruse. Two women bound together in an uneasy partnership.
As she slips into living a lie, Camilla finds herself questioning everything she believes. That women need protection. That slavery is natural. That some people are born to command and others to obey. As her relationship with Liza deepens, she begins to imagine a future she never thought possible.
Then a terrified fugitive named Macy Hawkins arrives at Liza’s door. Helping Macy could cost Liza everything she has built. But turning her away means condemning her to slavery.
To save Macy, Liza needs someone who can move openly through a world that remains closed to her. Someone who can wear the mask of the planter’s daughter.
She needs Camilla.
Together, the three women embark on a dangerous deception that stretches far beyond Memphis. But on the river—the highway to freedom—a single misstep could send Macy back to slavery, destroy everything Liza has built, and make Camilla pay dearly for becoming the woman she was never meant to be.
Genre: Historical Mystery
She arrives in Memphis widowed, penniless, and so desperate that she tries to throw herself into the Mississippi River. She’s saved by a woman she never expected to see again: Liza Armstrong, once enslaved by Camilla's father. Their lives have been linked since birth, though neither woman likes to dwell on the reasons why.
Liza has built a successful business in Memphis, a city where freedom is fragile and appearances matter more than truth. She’s bought a thriving hotel—but because of who she is, she can’t claim to own it. She needs someone to play the owner’s role.
Camilla needs a reason to go on. Liza offers one, and together, they strike an unlikely bargain. The true owner in the shadows. The face at the desk a ruse. Two women bound together in an uneasy partnership.
As she slips into living a lie, Camilla finds herself questioning everything she believes. That women need protection. That slavery is natural. That some people are born to command and others to obey. As her relationship with Liza deepens, she begins to imagine a future she never thought possible.
Then a terrified fugitive named Macy Hawkins arrives at Liza’s door. Helping Macy could cost Liza everything she has built. But turning her away means condemning her to slavery.
To save Macy, Liza needs someone who can move openly through a world that remains closed to her. Someone who can wear the mask of the planter’s daughter.
She needs Camilla.
Together, the three women embark on a dangerous deception that stretches far beyond Memphis. But on the river—the highway to freedom—a single misstep could send Macy back to slavery, destroy everything Liza has built, and make Camilla pay dearly for becoming the woman she was never meant to be.
Genre: Historical Mystery