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Callie Murray

@calliemurray

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✍️ Historical fiction author | THE BRUNSWICK
📍Norcross, Ga | Probably hosting a potluck rn

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I wrote The Brunswick with the goal of writing my favorite kind of novel:

→ It has that lesser-known historical context to make you feel smart, but it’s also relevant enough to be a fast and emotional read.

→ There’s a slow-build love story with tension and banter, but you won’t feel embarrassed sharing it with your mother-in-law, preteen daughter, or book club.

→ It tackles hard subjects with depth and honesty, but there’s also plenty of hope and redemption.

I hope you like that kind of novel too. (And I hope I did it justice!)

So, if you enjoy historical fiction, are connected to the foster/adoptive community, or are just interested in learning about this lesser known story in the months preceding WWII, grab yourself (or a friend) a copy.

And while I’ve got ya, tag someone below who might like The Brunswick, share this in your stories/from your rooftop, and check out this link I’ve put together as we launch it: calliemurray.com/book

🥐🦉🚂 taken in Historic Norcross by @calliemurray

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7 months ago

Our family doubled six months ago. This somehow still feels like a shock and also like *of course*, like it’s always been the plan.

Four siblings—three girls and a boy, then 12, 8, 5 and 3—joined us July 23, 2025 after what we thought would be a long gradual process but that instead became a text saying surprise, they are on the way.

An hour and a half later, we introduced ourselves as Callie and David and were quickly called Mom and Dad.

It’s been unbelievably hard and undeniably good.

We’ve renovated our house, bought an “adventure van,” and integrated them—these kiddos who are so resilient, hilarious, and cool—into schools and family and new rules, pressure-testing (/burning to the ground) every part of our lives in the process.

We’ve become parents to littles again and have celebrated our bookends’ first homecoming dance and first poop in the potty, respectively.

We’ve experienced, with a depth we never could have imagined, both shocking depravity and overwhelming redemption.

And we’ve been buoyed, consistently, by our dear community and the God who sets the lonely in families.

We just signed some significant paperwork and are now waiting on a court date to make this family of nine official. In the meantime, here’s a (face-less, thanks foster care) look at the beauty and the chaos, or as @jessray says, this “holy interruption.”

(Swipe to the end for a poem @kitti_murray sent us before they came 💛) by @calliemurray

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9 months ago

The cover for THE BRUNSWICK is here, and I can’t stop looking at it. It’s somehow historical but relevant, tragic but hopeful, classic but so weirdly funky. 💛

The back cover copy is here too, which I’ll include below. And the book is on Goodreads now, so you can add it to your Want to Read list! It will be a real-deal book in our hands May 19, 2026, which is probably when we will also have hovercraft cars and world peace (just an absolute eternity away). But we’re gonna have some fun between now and then, buckle up!!

→ In 1939 Georgia, far removed from the war brewing overseas, Cora Cain’s world feels small—and shrinking. There, she runs The Brunswick, her family’s once-grand hotel, which is now struggling as the town’s general store. When Thomas Watkins arrives seeking work and solace after his mother’s death, a connection sparks between them. Through Thomas, Cora glimpses a life beyond obligation and her war hero father’s unpredictable moods.

But everything changes when Cora’s asked to turn The Brunswick into a sanctuary for Jewish refugee children fleeing Nazi persecution. As Cora and Thomas prepare for the children’s arrival, they struggle to confront their pasts—and the prejudice of their neighbors—as their fragile hope is put to the test.

Meanwhile in Vienna, ten-year-old Charlotte is offered refuge in America. But even with the horrors she sees around her, Charlotte wonders how her parents could possibly send her away.

As war’s shadow begins to reach small-town Georgia, each person must face what love demands and decide what they must hold on to and of what they must let go. Inspired by true events, Callie Murray weaves a sweeping and heartfelt tale of courage, romance, and the extraordinary choices that define us. ← taken in Historic Downtown Norcross by @calliemurray

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a year ago

Last week, I had lunch with a woman named Mia who received my novel The Brunswick for her birthday. When she began to read it, she couldn’t believe the overlap: Her great-grandfather was the Austrian consul in Atlanta in 1939 and, like in The Brunswick, helped bring children from Nazi-occupied Austria to safety in America.

Ironically, the gift-giver had no idea this was part of her family’s story! But I’m so grateful for this chance connection, as Mia and I got to bond over this history that she’s connected to by blood and I’m connected to by sweat and tears (that’s drama for “writing a novel”).

Just a few days after our lunch, Mia traveled to Austria on vacation with her family, bringing The Brunswick along with. Here it is in front of what was once the Hotel Metropole in Vienna, which you know all about if you read the book.

“Here stood the House of the Gestapo,” the memorial reads.
“It was hell for those who stood up for Austria.
For many of them it was the antechamber of death.
It fell into ruins like the Thousand-Year Reich.
But Austria rose again, and with it our dead,
the immortal victims.”

I love how fiction helps us humanize stories and experiences we otherwise might never have considered, but whewwww, hearing the real-life stories from real-life people stirs up next-level empathy. I keep looking at these kiddos and thinking of their great-great-grandparents who risked so much for a country they left but long-loved and for a future Mia’s family and so many others now get to live.

And I keep thinking of the real families who shaped The Brunswick, wondering what their great-great-grandchildren ever knew of their experience.

Today, with my new friend Mia with The Brunswick in Austria, the world feels smaller. But time somehow feels weightier and more valuable—a gift to be stewarded for great-great-grandchilden we will never meet. taken in Vienna, Austria by @calliemurray

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14 days ago

I absolutely loved my editors and their feedback, to the point that we really only battled about one thing with The Brunswick.

*The bridge.*

There’s an early scene with a bridge jump, and I had written it as a 60 foot fall.

My editor: “I don’t think they would survive that.”
Me: “I DID THIS JUMP AND I HAVE A PHOTO TO PROVE IT.”

David and I, along with some friends (@callierichlovesyou @jrichlovesyou who else was there?!) jumped this bridge on the Chattahoochee when we were young dumb teenagers trying to impress one another. Now that I have teens of my own I wanna throw up. I can still vividly remember slipping my flip-flopped feet into the hot, slanted metal rungs as we climbed our way up…

We took this photo on a disposable camera, and I dug it out of a box for my editor. Look at the very top! Even with receipts though, we settled on a 40 foot bridge jump (a concession from her 30 foot suggestion) so it would be a little more believable. This was the right call, but the young-dumb-teenager inside of me still wants you to know it was 60 FEET AT LEAST.

(Another funny thing: When I first wrote this scene, I had Cora and Thomas visiting “the old automobile bridge”… but then quickly realized there would be no old, rusted-out auto bridges in the 1930s, duh. It quickly became an “under-construction bridge” instead!)

So how tall do we think a jump from the top of this bridge actually is?! 60 feet or nah?! taken in Chattahoochee River by @calliemurray

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21 days ago

🎉 New Special Campaign Announcement

Hello Bookfluencers,

Debut author @calliemurray's new historical fiction novel, THE BRUNSWICK, is on a roll.

The reviews from readers have been fabulous: 4.1 on Goodreads with 1,485 ratings. And, it has received praise from the media as well…

“Murray captures the rising anxiety of impending war as her characters struggle to come to grips with what it means to hold onto hope in times of strife. Readers will find it hard to look away.”— Publishers Weekly

We are honored to be working with Callie and her publisher @revellfiction to help build on the strong momentum for THE BRUNSWICK.

Even if you have previously read and reviewed this fabulous novel, you can help a debut author by participating in this special opportunity to continue the conversation with a Great Reads Book Promotion campaign on Instagram.

▶ ON TOUR: September 28 – October 26, 2026

Inspired by true events, Callie Murray weaves a Southern World War II historical novel set in Georgia with themes of wartime romance, parenthood, foster care, adoption, reconciliation, faith, and found family. Fans of Allen Levi, Amy Lynn Green, and Sarah Sundin will savor this stirring novel.

Additional information about the type of post and its requirements, the availability of complimentary books, your choice of dates, the selection process & notification, and terms of our agreement are included in the campaign application.

❓CAN YOU HELP CONTINUE THE MOMENTUM FOR THE BRUSNWICK?

▶ If so, please show your support for Callie by applying before Tuesday, September 8, 2026

LINK TO APPLY IN BIO

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

#thebrunswick #calliemurray #historicalfiction #revellfiction #greatreadsbookpromotion

The Brunswick | Callie Murray | Historical Fiction | Southern Fiction Novel | New Books | Book Tour | Revell Fiction | Great Reads Book Promotion

No A.I. was intentionally used to create graphics or text. © 2026 Great Reads Book Promotion Book tour graphic for The Brunswick, a novel by Callie Murray (2026) taken in United States of America by @calliemurray

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a month ago

BOOK EVENTS! I’ll be chatting about life and The Brunswick at a few fun events this fall. If you’ve got a book club, bring ‘em!

🐶 Kennesaw, GA: August 29 at The Brown Dog Bookshop - In conversation with @stories.with.sherry at a precious bookstore in a restored historical home.

💛 Suwanee, GA: August 29 at Read It Again - In conversation with Ty Bryant of @promise686. The store is donating 10% of all sales from the day to Promise 686!

🚂 Norcross, GA: September 1 at The Norcross Community Center - In conversation with my dear friend @NicoleHannel, hosted right in Downtown Norcross. Visit The Crossing, where the train station used to be, for dinner beforehand or for dessert after!

Coming later this fall: @thegrove_mgm in Montgomery, AL and @landmarkbooksellers in Franklin, TN

Come on out to grab a photo in front of this giant book cover (or tbh just stop by our garage any time) 🫠

calliemurray.com/events taken in Historic Downtown Norcross by @calliemurray

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2 months ago

Quickly learned the best part of writing is the readers 💛 by @calliemurray

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3 months ago

I didn’t know what to expect with The Brunswick’s launch, but I can tell you an uncontested highlight has been hearing from those of you who have read (or are reading!) the book. It’s truly felt like introducing good friends to one another, and I love that you’re bringing Thomas & Cora on all your summer travels.

Here are a few other singular pinch-me moments I never want to forget:

My kids seeing a lady reading it at the pool and yelling, “That’s my mom!”

A stranger walking by our house the other day while we were on the porch, calling out, “I’m reading your book!”

Hearing it was added as required summer reading for teachers at a local school.

A friend’s parents sending a selfie with their copy at Barnes & Noble. A friend’s aunt texting her that she’s been up all night reading. Another friend’s dad sharing my Facebook posts. (The one-layer-removed stories are just so fun. Hi aunts and dads, love you!)

Scroll for a few other favorite moments and know that yes, this is my shameless request for more screenshotted proof that this book is still out there living its own life. 💛🥐🚂🦉 taken in Historic Downtown Norcross by @calliemurray

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4 months ago

One of the most enjoyable parts of launching The Brunswick has been surprising foster and adoptive families with financial grants from its proceeds, to help with counseling, tutoring, and therapies. (You’ll read more about this in the book’s author’s note!)

Last week, @wendywsb and WSB-TV helped me surprise my friend Marilyn with a grant at our local bookstore @freckles.and.co 💛

I’ve long admired Marilyn’s faith, honesty, and heart. She and her husband Chuck stepped into foster care in their retirement, caring for 60 children in the last 13 years.

They’ve had their current son for the last five (and then welcomed his newborn sister three years ago) and are hoping to find a forever home for the two—ideally in Gwinnett County—once the court deems them officially ready for adoption. (Could this be you?!)

The link to the video is in my stories. Thank you Wendy for your kindness. This was such a joy! by @calliemurray

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5 months ago

The Brunswick has been *unleashed* and is officially available for purchase—print, ebook, and audio! 🪩

We had three really special launch events this week, and my pervasive feeling is just gratitude—for the opportunity, for the unfolding experience, and for all the people involved.

We got word the morning of release day that the book’s first print run had already sold out, and it also got a fun little best-seller tag on Amazon! Authordom really is a team sport, so I hope you all feel pride and ownership in this too.

Thank you to Catt & Mary at @freckles.and.co for the sweetest Norcross book signing; to Perimeter Village, Michal Whitlock, Hannah Rinehart, Olivia Bowdoin, Jess Ray, and Taylor Leonhardt for a Heaven-touching-earth celebration on launch night; and to Village Books, April Stammel, BT Harman, Kitti Murray, and Hung Truong for such a cool event braving the Atlanta floods. And thank you to all who came out—I’m thinking of all your faces now with the biggest smile.

If you’ve bought or read The Brunswick, keep sharing those pictures and reviews! I have some reckless hope that this is just the beginning.

calliemurray.com/book by @calliemurray

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5 months ago

Early in our marriage, David and I moved to California on military orders and wanderlust delight. We were absolute babies who suddenly found ourselves across the country where the only person we knew was a distant connection from college.

That distant connection invited me to a small group she was a part of, and then to bonfires and potlucks and walks until suddenly, David and I were a part of a community. It was life-giving in that lonely season and life-changing in the years that followed, as it secured in us this idea that we weren’t meant to do life alone.

Throughout all the moves and different seasons of work and parenthood, our communities (broad) and do-life-with friends (deep) have looked different, but time and again, we’ve experienced the mystery and complexities of grafting lives together.

And then, our adoption… a next-level understanding of grafting a family tree. I wrote about this through tears in The Brunswick, about the ways we’ve been cut, bound together, and expected to bloom. And I can feel it already, deep in my soul, where this discipline of love at the beginning has turned into something living and true—a new fruit in a new season.

I asked my friend Elena Balckom to create a watercolor of this idea, and preorders of The Brunswick from either my publisher or my local bookstore @freckles.and.co will receive this gorgeous art print of a grafted tree. Look closely for the bandage and the blooms.

My hope is that The Brunswick will inspire readers to think of their own communities, asking whether they need to plant their own or if it’s time to harvest and share.

(And I hope that many more branches will be added to family trees 💛) by @calliemurray

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5 months ago