Élise ou la Vraie Vie

Claire Etcherelli (1934–2023) was a French novelist renowned for her debut work Élise ou la vraie vie (1967), which won the prestigious Prix Femina and was adapted into a film in 1970. Born in Bordeaux to a working-class family, she drew from her experiences as a factory worker and single mother to depict the struggles of working-class women amid social issues like racism and exploitation during the Algerian War. Her other notable novels include À propos de Clémence (1971) and Un arbre voyageur (1978), and she served as editorial secretary for Les Temps modernes under Simone de Beauvoir. Read more →