To those who speak to us like children. A journey into "Septuagenia"

At the age of 78, Madeleine Melquiond tells the story of her "journey into septuagenarianism" through everyday events, often funny, sometimes bitter. During the previous decade, which the author recounted in On n'est pas sérieux quand on a 60 ans (You're not serious when you're 60) (8, 000 copies sold), most of us got used to getting older and were wary of advice givers that we didn't need; but, from the age of 70, our journey continued to play tricks on us.
Everything changed. The world around us. The way others see us. Our skin, our bones, our synapses and our privacy. Our perception of time also changes: we look less back, bathed in the shadow of our memories, and more forward, into the time that remains. Fortunately, we have experience and wisdom, contrary to what those who talk to us as if we were children imagine. Forget the pills, coaches, psychologists and physiotherapists that are sometimes necessary! It is within ourselves that we find the energy to weather the storms.
So here it is, at last! A book about septuagenarians written without pretension, with humor and sensitivity. Born in the Drôme in 1945, Madeleine Melquiond entered the École normale supérieure de Sèvres in 1966 and obtained the agrégation in history and geography in 1971. She opted for journalism. She was a lecturer at the Centre de formation des journalistes, and at the same time contributed to Le Matin de Paris and Le Monde, while also editing various specialized publications.
After 1990, she became an independent consultant in corporate communications and publication design until her retirement in 2006. Since then, she has devoted herself to literature. Among her works, she published in 2013, with the same publisher, On n'est pas sérieux quand on a soixante ans (We're not serious when we're sixty) (8000 copies sold).