Claire Etcherelli (born 1934) is a French novelist. She won the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

for her 1967

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, ''Elise, or the Real Life'', which was also adapted into a 1970 film. Her main characters are women and the plots take place in real-life cities such as Paris. She was influenced by

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...

Early life

Claire Etcherelli was born in 1934 in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. Her family was poor and her father died during World War II; her education was subsequently financed by the government and she earned a

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

qualification. Before turning to writing, Etcherelli was employed in many types of workplaces, including a car assembly plant, a ball-bearing manufacturer, and a tourist agency. In 1975 she began working as editorial secretary for the journal ''

Les Temps modernes ''Les Temps Modernes'' (''Modern Times'') is a French journal, founded by Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. It first issue was published in October 1945. It was named after the 1936 film by Charlie Chaplin. ''L ...

''.

Works

Etcherelli published her first novel, ''Elise ou la vraie vie'' (''Elise, or the Real Life''), in 1967. It was turned down by five publishers before being accepted by

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a French culture, French publishing house founded in 1930. Acquired by Éditions Gallimard in 1951, it publishes collections spanning fiction, non-fiction and comic books. It published some of the most important French authors ...

. The novel is based around the relationship of an Algerian automobile worker and a white French woman in the 1950s. It also deals with the issues that those of less privilege face such as poverty, exploitation, and social marginalization. Literary critic Liz Heron said of the novel, "Etcherelli's novel is significant because it describes the tensions and contradictions that make Paris life real for Elise, Etcherelli's heroine". Etcherelli won the

in 1967 for this novel. The novel gained a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1970, it was adapted into a film directed by

Michel Drach Michel Drach (18 October 1930 in Paris – 14 February 1990 in Paris) was a French film director, writer, producer and actor. Life and career Drach was born in Paris, France, the son of Yvonne (Vanderheym) and Maurice Drach. His family was Jewis ...

. Etcherelli's second novel, ''A Propos de Clémence'' (''About Clémence'') (1971), is about "the difficulty of knowing oneself and the impossibility of knowing another person". Her third novel, ''Un Arbre voyageur'' (''A Travelling Tree'') (1978), focuses on two women who attempt to start an unconventional family that has no

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

. The family was to be based on trust, solidarity, and women's leadership. Etcherelli said the novel "gave her the most pleasure to write". A review of the book in ''An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers, Volume 1'' says that it "offers us a beautiful, penetrating account of the lives of ordinary, though shrewdly intelligent and inconspicuously sensitive women of France's late sixties and early seventies". Etcherelli later wrote a 1982 compilation of poetic texts, titled ''Delirante'' (''Delirious Woman'').

Writing style

Etcherelli's main characters are women from a working-class background. She cites

as a major influence on her work. Cities and places that exist within those cities are frequently used in her work, with the cities creating a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for the aspects of life.

Personal life

Etcherelli is the mother of two sons.

Bibliography

*''Elise ou la vraie vie'' (''Elise, or the Real Life'', 1967) *''A Propos de Clémence'' (''About Clémence'', 1971) *''Un Arbre voyageur'' (''A Travelling Tree'', 1978) *''Delirante'' (''Delirious Woman'', 1982)

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Etcherelli, Claire 1934 births Living people Writers from Bordeaux 20th-century French novelists French women novelists Prix Femina winners 20th-century French women writers