French Heritage Society Sixth Annual Book Award—The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France (by James McAuley) Celebration

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French Heritage Society (FHS) is pleased to announce the winning book and authors of its sixth annual book award, The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France by James McAuley. This year, the award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the headquarters of Villa Albertine in Manhattan. The evening will commence at 6:30pm with the award ceremony, followed by an elegant, celebratory cocktail reception. The winning author will receive a $5,000 cash prize in addition to an award goblet designed by Thomas Jefferson while he served as Minister to France. During the event, Mr. McAuley will give a presentation on his book, with an audience Q&A session to follow.

The French Heritage Society Book Award was launched in 2017 in celebration of the organization’s 35th Anniversary. The Book Award recognizes and honors a work of distinction that illuminates for the general public either an important element of French cultural or historical patrimony (especially but not solely in the domains of architecture, décor, couture, gardening and the arts) or the considerable and noteworthy influence France, its citizens, and its culture have had in shaping American history, thought and culture. Recognized works address their topic and themes with originality and exemplary style. This work must be written in, or translated into, English and have been published in America in the three years preceding the annual awarding of the prize.

Past recipients include Notre-Dame: The Soul of France by Agnès Poirier, A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War and Enlightenment by Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mitchell, Proust’s Duchess by Caroline Weber, Finding Fontainebleau: An American Boy in France by Thad Carhart, and The Other Paris by Luc Sante. The Book Award’s esteemed jury is comprised of Cheryl Hurley, President Emerita of the Library of America, Anne Poulet, Director Emerita of The Frick Collection, and Caroline Weber Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Barnard College, a visiting professor at the Sorbonne, and author of Proust’s Duchess, winner of the Third Annual FHS Book Award. The five shortlisted books for the 2023 French Heritage Society Book Award: • “The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France by James McAuley • Miss Dior: A Story of Courage and Couture by Justine Picardie • Napoleon: A Life Told in Gardens and Shadows by Ruth Scurr • The Glory and the Sorrow: A Parisian and His World in the Age of the French Revolution by Timothy Tackett • The French Mind, 400 Years of Romance, Renewal, and Revolution by Peter Watson

About French Heritage Society
French Heritage Society is an American nonprofit organization with ten chapters in the U.S. and one in France. Its central mission is to ensure that the treasures of our shared French architectural and cultural heritage survive to inspire future generations. Over the past 41 years, FHS has given over 650 restoration and cultural grants to properties throughout France and in the U.S. and selected and supported more than 530 university students who have crossed the Atlantic for internships at esteemed institutions. Its emergency Notre-Dame Restoration Fund has raised nearly $2.6 million to date. For more information, visit: https://frenchheritagesociety.org/