The Guermantes Way

In the third volume of the celebrated novel, a writer comes into his own and learns the way of the world in Paris.

Continuing the nameless narrator’s voyage through his memories after Within a Budding Grove, The Guermantes Way finds him and his family entering Parisian high society. They have moved into a stately old town house owned by the Duke and Duchess de Guermantes in the Fauborg Saint-Germain district of Paris. Daily sightings of the duchess do nothing but fan the flames of the narrator’s infatuation with her. So, of course, he falls in love once more. He also continues his journey as a writer, visiting aristocratic and literary salons where, beneath a thin veneer of manners, a battle for political, sexual, and social supremacy rages on . . .

Originally published in two volumes in 1920 and 1921, The Guermantes Way explores the customs of Parisian society in Belle Époque France.

Praise for Marcel Proust

“Whatever your preference, Proust is a pleasure no serious reader should miss.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Reading Proust . . . it’s a whole world not just a book. Everyone wants to live more than one life and Proust is like ‘here’s another one you can live.’” —Francine Prose, New York Times–bestselling author of Mister Monkey

“I can think of only one other writer capable of such breadth and humanity: Shakespeare.” —André Aciman, New York Times–bestselling author of Find Me

“When I want to restore my faith in literature, I read Proust. . . . Reading Proust is like watching a galaxy being put together, one particle at a time.” —Aleksandar Hemon, author of The Making of Zombie Wars