--- title: Hotel Exile Wins the 2026 American Library in Paris Book Award for Its History of the Lutetia in Wartime Paris description: Hotel Exile by Jane Rogoyska wins the 2026 American Library in Paris Book Award. The story of the Lutetia hotel, the shortlist and where to buy it. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-06T12:00:00.152Z updated: 2026-11-06T12:08:31.159Z canonical: https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/hotel-exile-american-library-in-paris-book-award-2026 image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-31378835.webp categories: Non-Fiction content_type: News publication: Rich Books --- ### Book: Hotel Exile *Paris in the Shadow of War* By Jane Rogoyska The history of the Hotel Lutetia on the Left Bank of Paris: a meeting place for exiles from Hitler's Germany in the 1930s, the headquarters of German military intelligence during the occupation, and a reception centre for deportees returning from the concentration camps in 1945. Winner of the 2026 American Library in Paris Book Award. [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780241679630) Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War by Jane Rogoyska has won the 2026 American Library in Paris Book Award. The library announced the winner on 5th November at a ceremony in the Mandarin Oriental Lutetia, the Left Bank hotel at the centre of the book. The award carries $5,000, funded by the Florence Gould Foundation, and two hand-bound editions of the winning book made by the Paris bindery Bourgogne Reliure. One copy goes to the library's Special Collections. The prize goes each year to a book of fiction or nonfiction that [draws on France for its inspiration](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/how-to-read-the-four-novels-competing-for-the-2026-prix-goncourt-before-tuesday-s-verdict-in-paris). The jury this year was the biographer Sue Prideaux, who won in 2025, the actor Molly Ringwald and the historian Dan Jones. [The jury praised the book for its original research](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/the-reading-and-writing-room-what-the-judges-are-reading) and for keeping the human story in front of the scholarship. ## The Hotel Lutetia Story in Hotel Exile Hotel Exile follows a single building from the 1930s to the end of the Second World War. In the 1930s the Lutetia was a meeting place for artists and writers, and it became the gathering point for activists who had fled Hitler's Germany and hoped to form an alternative government in exile. After the German army occupied Paris, the hotel became the headquarters of German military intelligence, which ran operations from its rooms against people it counted as enemies of the Reich. In 1945 the French authorities requisitioned it again as a reception centre for deportees returning from the concentration camps. Rogoyska tells this history through three groups of people tied to the hotel, to one another and to the ideology that shaped their lives. If you know Paris, the book gives you a familiar address on the Boulevard Raspail and shows you what took place behind its doors. Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin, published the hardback in the UK in February 2026, and W. W. Norton publishes the book in the US. ## The American Library in Paris Book Award Shortlist Four other books reached the 2026 shortlist, chosen by an advisory panel chaired by John Burnham Schwartz: - Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs - Fractured France: A Journey through a Divided Nation by Andrew Hussey - My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: A Fiction by Deborah Levy - Riverwork by Lisa Robertson Last year's winner was Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux. ## Past Winners of the American Library in Paris Book Award The award began in 2013. Its earlier winners include Robert Harris's novel An Officer and a Spy in 2014, Julian Jackson's A Certain Idea of France: The Life of Charles de Gaulle in 2018 and Graham Robb's France: An Adventure History in 2022. Books published between 1st July 2026 and 30th June 2027 are eligible for the 2027 award. ## Where to Buy Hotel Exile and the Shortlisted Books - Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780241679630) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/hotel+exile+rogoyska) - Baldwin: A Love Story: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/baldwin+a+love+story) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/baldwin+a+love+story) - Fractured France: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/fractured+france+hussey) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/fractured+france+hussey) - My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/my+year+in+paris+with+gertrude+stein) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/my+year+in+paris+with+gertrude+stein) - Riverwork: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/riverwork+lisa+robertson) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/riverwork+lisa+robertson) - Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/wild+thing+prideaux) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/wild+thing+prideaux+gauguin) - An Officer and a Spy: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/an+officer+and+a+spy) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/an+officer+and+a+spy) - A Certain Idea of France: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/a+certain+idea+of+france) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/a+certain+idea+of+france) - France: An Adventure History: [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/france+an+adventure+history) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/france+an+adventure+history) ### The Books in This Story - [Hotel Exile](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9780241679630) by Jane Rogoyska - [Baldwin](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/baldwin+a+love+story) by Nicholas Boggs - [Fractured France](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/fractured+france+hussey) by Andrew Hussey - [My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/my+year+in+paris+with+gertrude+stein) by Deborah Levy - [Riverwork](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/riverwork+lisa+robertson) by Lisa Robertson - [Wild Thing](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/wild+thing+prideaux) by Sue Prideaux - [An Officer and a Spy](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/an+officer+and+a+spy) by Robert Harris - [A Certain Idea of France](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/a+certain+idea+of+france) by Julian Jackson - [France](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/france+an+adventure+history) by Graham Robb