In the latter half of her career, Alice Rivaz expressed the need to look back on her past to understand the 20th century in light of her own path. She published Comptez vos jours (1966), a collection in poetic prose, and then L’Alphabet du matin (1968), a narrative inspired by her early childhood. In 1982, the twelfth edition of the Écriture review included ‘Feu couvert’, an autobiography written with an inclusive ‘we’, to evoke not only her own life but also that of all women of her generation and social environment.
Keywords
Comptez vos jours
A delicate hint of roots, of an extraordinary life, a burning confession of suffering through it all, Comptez vos jours (Count your days) opens with melodious rhythmic phrases, a veritable chant expressing life and what forms its essence.
L'Alphabet du matin
A young girl stepping into life, tensions rising within a family. Discovering the world, reading, music, people…
Ce nom qui n'est pas le mien
Ce Nom qui n’est pas le mien (This name that is not my own) is a collection of several autobiographical texts and various essays. It is divided into three parts: Femmes, Lire Écrire and Petite suite personnelle (Women, Reading Writing, and A Personal Sequel).
Traces de vie
Her notebooks go beyond the realm of the novelist to also provide a fascinating account of cultural and social life in 20th-century Geneva.