Swann's Way (1913) is the first volume of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. It contains the childhood memories of Combray, the madeleine scene, and Swann in Love, the story of Charles Swann's jealous passion for Odette.
Combray
The narrator remembers sleepless nights in his childhood and the goodnight kiss his mother would not give when guests came, among them Charles Swann, a refined friend of the family.
Then, tasting a madeleine dipped in tea, he suddenly recovers the whole world of Combray: his aunt Léonie, the cook Françoise, the two walks, towards Swann's house and towards the Guermantes.
Swann in Love
The second part, set before the narrator's birth, tells how Swann, a man of the world, falls in love with Odette de Crécy, a courtesan, through the salon of the Verdurins and a little phrase of music by the composer Vinteuil.
His jealousy grows into an obsession. The story ends with his famous reflection that he wasted years for a woman who was not even his type.
Publication
After refusals from several publishers, Proust paid for the publication of Swann's Way by Bernard Grasset in November 1913. The war delayed the next volumes, which were published by Gallimard.
The English translation by C. K. Scott Moncrieff appeared in 1922, under the title Swann's Way, a literal rendering of Du côté de chez Swann, the way towards Swann's house.
Anecdotes
Paid by the author
Proust paid the costs of the first edition of Swann's Way himself. Grasset printed it without even reading it closely; the publisher later regretted losing the rest of the novel to Gallimard.
The little phrase
Proust said the 'little phrase' of Vinteuil's sonata, which accompanies Swann's love, was inspired by several pieces of music, among them a sonata by Saint-Saëns and music by César Franck and Wagner.
Frequently asked questions
What happens in Swann's Way?
The narrator recalls his childhood in Combray, then tells the love of Charles Swann for Odette, and his own first love for their daughter Gilberte.
Where is the madeleine scene?
In the first part, Combray, near the beginning of Swann's Way.
Who translated Proust into English?
C. K. Scott Moncrieff, from 1922, under the general title Remembrance of Things Past.