Roman à clef

Roman à clef (French pronunciation: ​[ʁɔmɑ̃ a kle], Anglicized as /roʊˌmɒnəˈkleɪ/), French for novel with a key, is a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction. This "key" may be produced separately by the author, or implied through the use of epigraphs or other literary techniques.