A novel that depicts (usually famous) real people and events under the guise of fiction.[From French roman à clef, literally, a novel with a key.]
All fiction has a grain of truth, but a roman a clef has it by the bushel. Roman a clef dates back to seventeenth century France. In the beginning, a roman a clef really did have a key that was published separately. In these times, you can simply go on the Internet and search using Google. An example of roman a clef is Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.
These days the term can apply to any work of fiction, for example, a movie, not just a novel. A blend term "faction" has also been used, after "fact" presented as "fiction".
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=roman+a+clef
"[Geraldine] Brooks has borrowed details not just from Little Women but from the story of Alcott's own extraordinary father, Bronson Alcott, a man whose freethinking, utopian views were all downplayed in his daughter's roman a clef."
Michelle Griffin; March; Sydney Morning Herald (Australia); Apr 2, 2005.
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