Swann's Way
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By Marcel Proust
Swann's Way is one of seven books that comprise In Search of Lost Time (A la recherche du temps perdu, 1913-1927), unique in fiction for its sustained fullness of thought and richness of characterization.
In Swann's Way, the great arc of In Search of Lost Time begins with the narrator's efforts to recapture and understand his past, efforts set in motion by the taste of a madeleine soaked in tea. The narrator's thoughts about his own life lead him ineluctably to the past of Charles Swann, a family friend the narrator knew as a child. By remembering and imaginatively inhabiting Swann's love affair with the coquette Odette, the narrator gains insight into his life and the nature of love itself.
Penguin Books, 2004, softcover, 468 pages.