As in previous volumes, envy and distrust eventually reveal unsuspected and unwanted revelations, such as Albertine's homosexuality, which lead the Narrator to reconcile himself with his melancholy.

The first edition, based on Proust's manuscript, was published as Albertine disparue to prevent it from being confused with Rabindranath Tagore's La Fugitive (1921).

The second, even-more-definitive French edition (1987–89) uses the title Albertine disparue and is based on an unmarked typescript acquired in 1962 by the Bibliothèque Nationale.

Whether Proust's changes to the manuscript can be integrated into the text of modern editions of Lost Time, remains the subject of contentious debate.

[2] However, Jean Milly's 2002 GF Flammarion edition follows Proust's typescript, and restores the sub-title "Sodom and Gomorrah III.