Susanna Kaysen facts for kids

Susanna Kaysen (born November 11, 1948) is an American author. She is most famous for her 1993 book, Girl, Interrupted. This book is a memoir, which means it tells a true story from her own life.

About Susanna Kaysen

Susanna Kaysen was born and grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her mother was Annette Neutra Kaysen, and her father was Carl Kaysen. Her father was a professor at MIT and an economist. An economist is someone who studies how money and goods are made and used. He also used to advise President John F. Kennedy. Susanna's family is Jewish.

Susanna went to high school at the Commonwealth School in Boston and The Cambridge School of Weston. In 1967, when she was 18, she went to McLean Hospital. She was there to get help for some difficult feelings she was having. While at the hospital, she was diagnosed with a condition that affected her emotions and relationships. She stayed there for 18 months.

Her experiences at the hospital became the basis for her famous memoir, Girl, Interrupted, which she wrote in 1993. This book was later made into a movie called Girl, Interrupted. In the movie, actress Winona Ryder played Susanna.

Susanna Kaysen has one sister. She is divorced. For a while, she lived in the Faroe Islands, which are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean. Her novel Far Afield is based on her time living there.