Geneva airport, setting for a unique work by Laurence Boissier

Laurence Boissier fell silent in 2022. Three years later, almost to the day, the public has the joy of rediscovering the singular perspective that the Geneva woman who died at the age of 56 had on things, in “London 1:30 p.m.”, a short unpublished novel which appears this Friday, January 10. This first manuscript that she had sent to art&fiction had remained in the drawers, while the house published her subsequent texts, such as her “Inventory of places”, Swiss Literature Prize or “Back to school”, Public Prize of the City of Lausanne and Pittard de l’Andelyn Prize, or even its “Story of an uprising” both funny and erudite who enjoyed great success.

Lost manuscript

Lost, then found after the disappearance of the author during storage, the manuscript became a book with the authorization of the family. We already find there his favorite themes and his art of the delicate side step. The plot takes place entirely in Geneva airport and recounts the absence of a father as in “Back to School”. Here, loss is not seen from a child’s perspective but through the eyes of Emilienne, who haunts the airport whenever her obligations as a mother allow her to do so. Pillar of the hub, arrivals bistro, she has been hoping for months to see the sliding doors open for her father, whose 1:30 p.m. plane from London crashed in the Channel. She also carries her grief upstairs, and notes her piquant observations about the people she meets. Such as “Woman with stubborn perm, she could fly with an open cockpit…” or “Man in love with woman in love, but less.”

There is also Hadjira, invisible pee lady who, as a true performer in cleaning the toilets, nevertheless multiplies the original initiatives, eccentric hairstyles and plunging necklines so that she is noticed. But she has a new plan: convince Raoul, “architect by elimination rather than by vocation” who has become head of airport development, to build a hammam that would benefit travelers, and where she could work. Here again is Teodora, a Russian artist teaching in Geneva, who would like to photograph those that no one is waiting for when they get off the plane, or those who are waiting for someone who will not arrive.

Meaning of the formula

Over the course of these short, detailed chapters which can be read like micronews or airport news, links will be created between those accustomed to this world of anonymity and transit. Laurence Boissier observes them bustling around like little ants in every corner of the airport, reconstructing their movements and actions with tenderness and mischief, and weaving these fragments with the delicacy and humor that we know from him. With an economy of words and an art of formula which makes this little work a unique book of mourning, which also and above all speaks of life as it pulses. A funny text full of humanity.

“London 1:30 p.m.”, Laurence Boissier. Ed. art&fiction147 p.

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