Swann in Love, a book within a book contained within the first volume, Swann's Way, of Marcel Proust's seven-volume In Search of Lost Time, is an excellent entry point into Marcel Proust's work and a compelling standalone novel. In its pages, the portrait of a stormy love affair between the courtesan Odette de Crécy and upper-class socialite Charles Swann serves as a springboard for meditations on love and jealousy.
"My dad used to say to me, 'Try to keep a cool head and a warm heart.' At least I think it was my dad. I don't really remember him." Gravy worked in the graveyard - hence the name. He was having a normal day until his friend Benjy turned up in a car Gravy didn't recognise. Benjy had a bullet hole in his chest, but lived just long enough to ask Gravy to hide him and look after his gun. Gravy had looked after things for Benjy before, but never a gun. When Gravy looked in the car...