In the eighth arrondissement of Paris, the elegant 102 Boulevard Haussmann is home to Madame Williams, with her second husband and her harp; downstairs, Marcel Proust is trying to write his sprawling masterpiece, In Search of Lost Time. Between 1909 and 1919, a correspondence that starts with a request for silence develops into a touching friendship, discussing books, music, domestic arrangements, illness, and the sadness of losing friends in the war. Shedding a fascinating light on one of literature's most reclusive and enigmatic authors, these letters are accompanied here by annotations and additional biographical information.