2024-04-13 15:00:48
1- In your conception of the plot, does “From Mother to Mother” tell a family drama or is it more the story of the story(s) of a woman(s)?
I would definitely say both. First of all, it is about women’s stories, the story of what they experience, what they go through… and it is by going back into these stories that we discover the family drama. All of this is woven, since it is also through history that speech is freed, that there are things and experiences that are told. So the core of the novel is a family drama, but the women’s stories are just as important. My goal is not to reveal this family drama, but to show how it is experienced, felt and told by women.
Concretely, the novel features two pregnant women living in two countries, two stories, parallel at the start, which end up coming together through drama. The story takes place during the nine months of their joint pregnancy. This is certainly experienced in a completely different way, but I believe that beyond all the differences the mothers are all going through the same thing deep down, which means that there is a certain connivance and complicity between these women. linked by motherhood even if it is a unique experience, each lived in their own way.
In the novel, Gunié already has four children – the baby she is carrying being her fifth, and she is very maternal; while Fred doesn’t want to hear about children or motherhood. These are two different approaches. But there is this common core of doubts, of questions that we ask ourselves around pregnancy. Giving birth to a child remains something that connects all women and mothers.
2- What was the trigger for the plot, your source of inspiration for this novel?
Even if I wasn’t aware of it at first, it was clearly the stories and hours of chatting with my grandmothers, Moroccan and French, that inspired this novel. But it is not their stories that I tell. I was particularly touched by my maternal grandmother’s stories about our past, our origins, family evenings, etc. In general, I am interested in everything relating to the mother-child relationship or even separation. , and everything that concerns family secrets, has always fascinated me.
“From mother to mother” is intended as a tribute to my grandmothers and to women in general.
The other source of inspiration for the novel is my dual Franco-Moroccan identity, which is reflected in the origins of the two protagonists: two worlds, two cultures, two countries.
3- You wrote the novel during your parental leave, did the anxieties that one can have when becoming a mother inspire it in a certain way?
Indeed, my son was a year and a half old when I was at work, I took care of him full time. I could never have written this story without being a mother. Without realizing it, we talk a lot about ourselves when we write. It was also a form of therapy for me. There are things that were experienced more or less well during pregnancy or birth. It did me good to talk about it, even in a different, very roundabout way. The doubts, the anxieties, even sometimes the fear of not being able to protect your child in a certain way… There are so many questions that come up suddenly when you become a mother, and I find that you don’t understand them. don’t talk enough.
I think we don’t talk enough about the inner world of women, about the enormous upheaval that childbirth represents. This moment is actually a rebirth for us women. We discover and learn so much about ourselves when we become a mother. Our points of reference in life change, our way of approaching it as well as our priorities. Hence the importance for the future mother to prepare well for this change, not only at the time of childbirth, but beyond so as to allow her to regain her place as a woman, mother, daughter, wife, sister.
Women undergo a lot of pressure both from those around them and from society, whose implicit expectations can be very different from one family to another, from one country to another. This remains an unconscious pressure, but which can be remedied by listening, kindness and without judgment.
By exploring the inner world of women, I want to send them the message that they must trust themselves, not let fear and doubt take over. Women have a very developed intuition and when we go through pregnancy and childbirth, it is further proof of everything we are capable of.
4- Compared to the difficulties encountered by the two women protagonists, does “From Mother to Mother” bring hope?
Completely. In the novel, the two women are very persistent. Driven by the desire to discover the truth, they are not going to give up. They will learn little by little to really trust each other more and more, and to understand the underlying stories of each other.
My message is even double. It encourages women to trust each other and, for everything that concerns family secrets, it is about remembering the importance of freeing up speech. Often we have the impression that we are protecting children by keeping secrets, but today psychology admits that this does a lot of damage.
Even if there are secrets that we don’t talk about, children feel them, and from generation to generation, these are things that are passed on unconsciously. It is important to trust in the kindness of sharing, of speaking, of freeing the word. This is how we can heal wounds, transcend obstacles and move forward in life. It’s not by hiding.
5- Do you have to be a woman to better tell the story of women?
Absolutely. To tell the story of women, I think a feminine story would be more relevant. Because it is one thing to document an experience and another to live it, feel it, go through it. I don’t see who can talk about a woman better than a woman. It’s already very different from one woman to another. You must not only be a woman but have experienced the situation. So, when you are a mother you will know how to talk better about motherhood.
2024-04-13 15:00:48