As the young narrator succumbs to the charms of the enchanting Gilberte, we are presented with an unparalleled account of the pangs of adolescent life. Following an illness, Marcel is sent to recuperate at the seaside resort of Balbec, together with his grandmother.
On a cold, miserable night in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a night that wouldn’t feel so unusual if it wasn’t the Fourth of July, an antique wooden boat runs full-speed into a line of old railroad pilings in the shallow waters of Waishkey Bay. When Alex McKnight helps rescue the passengers, he finds three men. The driver is out cold, the other two are dazed but conscious. When they’re all finally back on dry land and sent...