“Oh, oh, oh… these questions hurt”Susie Morgenstern reacted to discovering the list of ritual questions in the Parents’ Life section. An American, she arrived in France in 1967 after meeting mathematician Jacques Morgenstern (1937-1994), where she became a mother. “with the certainty of having been born for this suicide mission,” according to the formula used in his autobiography My 18 exiles (The Iconoclast, 2021, published in paperback in 2023). With the eldest, Aliyah, she co-wrote Terminal! Everybody get off! (The School of Leisure, 1985), a book in which mother and daughter compare their versions of the same events. As for the second, Mayah, the stories of her school days fed the sixth (The School of Leisure, 1984), a star book in school libraries, published forty years ago. “Motherhood is not an exact science. It is made up of blunders, words spoken without thinking, excessive ambitions, psychological deficiencies and also laziness. The reproaches are often justified.”he writes again in his autobiographical account.
His daughters are now 57 and 53 years old respectively. Since then, some 150 books have been published, including the latest, Back to school without a head (Les Arènes, 44 pages, 14.90 euros). Paradoxically, although the French school was her nightmare, it was there that she set the action of most of her books. At 79, Susie Morgenstern is still working on a dozen projects, has become a grandmother, even a great-grandmother, and invented the verb “grandfather”, which refers to caring for grandchildren at times not necessarily chosen, and having writing projects with them.
The first time you felt like a mother?
From CP. I was always the tallest in my class and took on the role of mother. Everything I ever wanted to be! Not a supermodel, not a movie star, not a pop singer, just a mom. I’m not the tallest anymore, but now I’m the oldest wherever I go, more like everyone’s grandmother.
Oddly enough, when I became a real mother, at 22, I didn’t feel right. I didn’t have the maturity required. Motherhood was both the greatest adventure of my life and the greatest failure. But I just became a great-grandmother, the glorious crowning achievement of my life! I was a completely imperfect mother, but I’ve become much better as a grandmother.
Have you ever cried in front of your children?
Yes! I could be a professional mourner. They should hire me for funerals. Too bad I can’t be at mine! When I started crying during the credits ofhanna and her sisters [film de Woody Allen de 1986] – the credits! – one of my daughters said to me: “Mom! The movie hasn’t even started!” I have never excluded my children from the spectacle of my sobbing. They have seen me cry during my arguments with my husband.
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