Swann's Way tells two related stories, the first of which revolves around Marcel, a younger version of the narrator, and his experiences in, and memories of, the French town Combray. Inspired by the "gusts of memory" that rise up within him as he dips a Madeleine into hot tea, the narrator discusses his fear of going to bed at night. He is a creature of habit and dislikes waking up in the middle of the night not knowing where he is. He claims that people are defined by the objects that surround them and must piece together their identities bit by bit each time they wake up. The novel now carries the reader back fifteen years to relate the second story--that of the love affair between Swann and Odette. Swann does not know that Odette has a terrible reputation and, thinking she will be harder to seduce than she really is, takes up an interest in her. He finds her only vaguely attractive, however, until one day when he realizes that she resembles Botticelli's beautiful rendering of Jethro's daughter in his painting Zipporrah.