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When did Marcel Proust begin writing In Search of Lost Time?

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Portrait of French author Marcel Proust, seated with his hand resting thoughtfully against his chin, wearing a dark suit and looking directly at the camera. — Marcel Proust French author Marcel Proust wrote what is considered one of the supreme achievements of modern fiction, the seven-part autobiographical novel *À la recherche du temps perdu* (1913–27; *In Search of Lost Time*).

Marcel Proust began writing his monumental work, In Search of Lost Time, in July 1909, after he retired from the world to focus on the project. This decision followed an experience in January 1909, when he encountered the involuntary recall of a childhood memory triggered by tasting a madeleine dipped in tea. He completed the first draft of the novel in September 1912.1