Much more discreet than her two actor brothers, Arié and Gad, Judith Elmaleh has always preferred writing to the spotlight. But her latest book nevertheless says a lot about her family since she reveals a dark secret… as if to free herself from it. Released on September 22 by Robert Laffont editions, “Une Reine” is certainly a novel but also a story tinged with real and biographical anecdotes. This Friday, October 7, on the morning airwaves of “France Inter”, the author spoke at length about the forced marriage of her grandmother, just 14 years old, in Morocco under French protectorate in the 1930s. family history in the form of a heavy secret that Judith and her brothers learned late and which upset them. The author says that their grandfather was married at the time to Hassiba. A woman who, unfortunately, was sterile.
“Now your home is here, you’ll never go home again”
Desiring to have descendants, and after consultation with a few rabbis, the husband then decided to take a second wife. And her choice will be Hassiba’s own niece, a 14-year-old girl by the first name of Mini. Not really understanding the situation, the latter quickly found herself in an unreal situation, as Judith Elmaleh points out: “We came to get her, we dressed her, we made her beautiful. She was very happy with this sudden attention (…) It was a magical moment for this young girl to be dressed, made up and brought to a magnificent party for her.” But the teenager did not understand, for lack of explanations, the scope of all this ceremonial, as the novelist explains: “When leaving, because she was tired, she said to her mother: ‘ I want to go home’ and she replied: ‘Now your home is here, you will never come home again’”. A shock for this young Mimi who will have seven children with the grandfather of Judith Elmaleh, the first three of which will be torn from her to be raised by Hassiba, the first wife. A sad family story that has long been hidden from the descendants that Judith Elmaleh wanted to reveal as a duty of memory towards Mimi and a memory that must absolutely be perpetuated: “Often, when you have a family that is very strong, very united, with a heavy history, we forget the descendants a little. We forget to send them” concludes the sister of Gad Elmaleh who, as a father, is particularly moved by this approach.
France Live
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A nightmarish evening for Gad Elmaleh!