Swann in Love: The Witty Novella That's the Perfect Introduction to Proust

A stunning deluxe edition of the stand-alone novella from Proust’s masterpiece—an intoxicatingly witty story of infatuation and jealousy—delivers the most memorable reading experience

A new translation commemorating a century since the monumental masterpiece was first published in English—and since Proust died—Swann in Love is a sublimely witty and poignant story of the illusions of love and desire. Full of the rich social satire and penetrating insight that distinguish Proust’s style, it is the perfect introduction to one of the world’s great novelists.
 
When Charles Swann first lays eyes on Odette de Crécy, her beauty leaves him indifferent. Their paths continue to cross in the drawing rooms and theatres of Parisian high society, and the seeds of desire in Swann begin to flourish. What follows is a journey through self-delusion, jealousy and delirious fantasy, which will take Swann far from the sedate comfort of his society life.

Marcel Proust was born in Auteuil in 1871. As a young man he became an eminent society figure, frequenting Paris’s most exclusive salons. Following the death of his mother, Proust’s already poor health began to deteriorate further, and he increasingly withdrew from society. He started writing In Search of Lost Time in 1908 and worked on its seven volumes until his death in 1922, spending the final three years of his life largely confined to a cork-lined bedroom.
 
Lucy Raitz is a French teacher, writer and sometime literary translator with a long-standing love of Proust’s work. She hopes that her version of Un amour de Swann, appearing a hundred years after Proust’s death, will give another generation of readers the key to this extraordinary kingdom and the desire to read on. Lucy lives in London with her husband. She has two daughters.