A guide to "Combray", the opening section of Proust's "A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu". This text helps students to encounter in context the highlights of the book that have so often been anthologized: the madeleine dipped in the narrator's tear - the quintessential Proustian experience of affective memory - the scene of the goodnight kiss, the appearance of Swann, the evocation of the little town, the old servant, Francoise, and the charming landscapes. Suitable for both undergraduates and the general reader, an introduction clarifies the historical background to this masterpiece of French literature. It examines the ways in which the complexities of biography, literary transformation and the structural importance of its many themes may be approached and appreciated. The text is supported by full explanatory notes and frequent translations.

Leighton Hodson was Senior Resarch Fellow at the University of Glasgow and is author of "Proust: the critical heritage" (1989) and "Proust's A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs: a critical guide" (1994).