Nine stories by the acclaimed French writer Marcel Proust, reportedly concealed due to their subject matter, are set to be published for the first time this fall.

The stories, touching on themes of homosexuality, were penned during the 1890s when Proust was in his early 20s. He was in the process of collating poems and short stories for his collection “Pleasures and Days” (Plaisirs et les jours), but ultimately chose to exclude these particular narratives.

The stories were unearthed by Proust scholar Bernard de Fallois, whose publishing house, Editions de Fallois, plans to release them in October, nearly a century after Proust’s death. The collection will be titled Le Mystérieux Correspondant (The Mysterious Correspondent).

Editions de Fallois revealed that the stories, a blend of fairy tales, fantasy, and dialogues with the dead, offer a glimpse into the genesis of Proust’s magnum opus, “In Search of Lost Time,” which was published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927.

“All of them remained secret, the author never spoke of them,” stated Éditions de Fallois. “Proust was in his early 20s when he wrote these stories, and in most of them, he grapples with his homosexuality in a somber and tragic manner, likening it to a curse. The young writer, in various ways, sometimes bluntly, projects his personal diary that he was unable to write.”

Proust never publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, even engaging in a duel with a critic who had insinuated that he was gay. “While he was willing to engage in romantic relationships with other young men, he was equally determined to avoid the label of homosexual,” writes Edmund White in his biography of the French writer. “Years later, he would advise André Zid that one can write about homosexuality, even extensively, as long as one does not attribute it specifically to a single individual. This piece of literary advice aligns with Proust’s general discretion, which became increasingly absurd as everyone around him knew he was gay.”

Professor Luc Fraisse of the University of Strasbourg, who has edited and annotated the stories in the upcoming 176-page edition, poses a question: “Why did Proust reject these texts from The Pleasures when he mentions them in the original summary?” Fraisse suggests, “No doubt, he believed that due to their subject matter, they could offend a society where strong moral values prevailed. Thus, under the guise of fiction, he presents a personal diary.”

Fraisse further asserts that Proust had already mastered his unique style of expression in these stories.

“These unpublished pages may not possess the perfection of ‘Lost Time’, but they do help us to better understand it by revealing its roots.”

Marcel Proust passed away in 1922 at the age of 51, succumbing to pneumonia.

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