Flight 111 - by Talel Aronowicz (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"This deeply reflective account is touching and candid." - Booklist

Stylistically reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, this is a poignant, deeply personal graphic memoir that turns tragedy into a powerful journey of memory and healing.

On September 2, 1998, Swissair Flight 111 departed John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, bound for Geneva, Switzerland. Less than an hour later, while flying over the Atlantic near Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia (Canada), the aircraft encountered smoke in the cockpit and ultimately crashed into the ocean, killing all 229 passengers and crew aboard.

In Flight 111, Swiss comic artist Talel Aronowicz confronts the unspoken tragedy that has shaped her life. For decades, her grandparents' deaths in that crash were a taboo--never spoken of, never understood. Through evocative artwork, journal-like reflections, and intimate storytelling, she explores grief, memory, and the long shadow of loss, bringing readers along as she pieces together what really happened and what it meant. This memoir blurs history and personal discovery into a moving graphic novel that touches the heart while shedding light on a real-world tragedy.

Review Quotes

"In 1998, when Talel Aronowicz was seven years old, her maternal grandparents were killed when Swissair flight 111, traveling from New York to Geneva, crashed off the coast of Halifax, leaving no survivors. As an adult, Aronowicz traveled to Geneva from Paris to talk to her mother and get answers about who her grandparents were, the accident itself, and why it was always an unspoken topic in her family. This deeply reflective account is touching and candid, steering clear of laying blame or projecting feelings onto others. Aronowicz's sensitivity towards her mother's feelings while also seeking answers is especially moving. The artwork is cartoonish, which will be inviting for readers new to comics. The palette is awash with muted color accents, which change given the setting or time frame, making it easy for readers to follow the switches. Fans of memoirs about family relationships or families and survivors of tragedy will appreciate this sensitive portrayal, regardless of whether they are new to reading a graphic format."- Suzanne Temple, Booklist

"The 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111 was a global tragedy, but for the family members of those who died that night, it was also a personal trauma. Talel Aronowicz was just seven when her grandparents were among the tragedy's 229 victims. Twenty-five years later, she set out to understand not only what happened that night but also to penetrate the silences about it in her own family. FLIGHT 111: A GRAPHIC MEMOIR is an understated but powerful, poignant, and very human journey of discovery, understanding, and family healing."

--Stephen Kimber

Author, Flight 111: A Year in the Life of a Tragedy

About the Author

Talel Aronowicz is a comic book author and illustrator. Since childhood, she has been documenting her adventures through drawings, dreaming of one day publishing a "real" graphic novel. However, the voice of reason led her to study law, eventually resulting in a career as a lawyer. After several years of practice, she decided to hang up her robes to study narrative arts in Paris, choosing to follow her passion and "live on sketches and fresh air" (a leap of faith into the artist's life).

Coming from a multicultural family, Talel explores themes of identity and family history in her work, always through a humorous lens. On her Instagram account, @bd_thérapie, she publishes comic strips inspired by the existential questions of a thirty-something in the midst of a life transition and career change. She lives in Paris, France.