The manuscript of “London 1:30 p.m.” by Geneva author Laurence Boissier, who died in 2022, disappeared for almost twenty years. Now published by art&fiction, this unpublished novel sets the stage for his subtle work: the disappearance of the father, humor and the importance of rituals.
Admirers of Laurence Boissier can rejoice. His first novel, “London 1:30 p.m.”, forgotten, then found, comes out of the press this Friday, January 10. In this short choral novel, the Genevan author, who died in 2022, probes the sensual potential of Geneva airport, the wait, the opportunities to be seized.
Sitting every day at the bar in the arrival hall at Geneva airport, Emilienne tries to overcome the death of her father, one of the passengers on the 1:30 p.m. flight from London which crashed into the English Channel. Around her are busy Hadjira and her cleaning cart, Raoul, melancholy manager of the airport buildings, and Teodora, photographer sensitive to the vibrations of the place and the planes.
The meeting of the four characters provokes a dance on the theme of friendship, of intimacy with each of them, underline the Geneva art&fiction editions which publish the work. Laurence Boissier’s first novel, “London 1:30 p.m.” has long disappeared. Then the manuscript reappeared surreptitiously during storage after the disappearance of its author.
>> Listen to the Vertigo topic dedicated to “London 1:30 p.m.” by Laurence Boissier:
“A gray area”
“No one of us had the memory of seeing this manuscript passed by, so at first we were completely troubled and even hesitant. (…) There is really a gray area which is, I think, linked to the fact that in 2008, we were still a small association (…) And secondly, Laurence arrived with a new project. At one point, I remember it a little. must have said to me: ‘forget the thing that I brought you, that’s what I would like to do now'”, indicates Stéphane Fretz, co-director of art&fiction romandes editions, in the Vertigo show on January 9.
In this new book we find the subtle humor of Laurence Boissier as well as the themes that are dear to her: the play of echoes of personal trajectories, a marked attention to topography, the subtlety in the evocation of human links, the absurd importance of routines and the always surprising weight of emptiness.
Swiss Literature Prize 2017
Note that “Laurence Backstage”, a letter to the deceased, written by her friend the author, screenwriter and playwright Antoine Jaccoud, appears simultaneously with the same publisher. It is followed by a portrait by the journalist and literary critic Lisbeth Koutchoumoff Arman.
Died on January 7, 2022 at the age of 56, Laurence Boissier published several stories, including “Projet pour Madame B” (2010), “Noces” (2011) and “Cahier des charges” (2011).
Artist, interior designer and translator, who was also a member of the “Bern ist überall” collective, received the 2017 Swiss Literature Prize for the short story collection “Inventaire des places”. In 2018, the Genevan won the readers’ prize from the city of Lausanne for “Back to school”.
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Laurence Boissier, “London 1:30 p.m.”, art&fiction editions, January 2025.
