The Six Steps to Salvation Geneva tour, part 1

Over the past few months, I’ve been posting on my Instagram page about the places that appear in my latest satirical novel, Six Steps to Salvation. It’s been quite an undertaking, so rather than let it wallow away in the depths of Instagram, I decided to preserve it for posterity here, too.

My novels tend to be very place-based, and this one is no exception. It follows the attempts at redemption of Trent Argent (the anti-hero from my first novel, Troubleshot). He’s moved to Geneva with the intention of putting his dubious skills to good use in support of the city’s many nonprofit organisations. And no, he’s not based on me.

So, with no further ado, let’s get started!

Welcome to Geneva

Geneva’s most famous landmark, the Jet d’Eau is actually only mentioned once, fleetingly, in the novel – but how could we not begin the tour here? They light it up at night during summer and only turn it off on windy days. It was nice of the moette boat to show up for the picture, too.

The Pont Butin

The Pont Butin, which spans the Rhône, is probably the landmark that appears most in the novel. Our heroes set up a campsite beneath it, as you’ll see in the next batch of photos.

“to get an unimpeded view, you had to press your nose between closely spaced three-metre-high bars erected to stop people jumping. When the sun was low at the beginning or end of the day, it flickered between the bars like an old-style picture box.” Six Steps to Salvation by P.J. Murphy, Chapter 1

Under the Pont Butin

“This river valley was a world away from the rest of the city, a haven of nature sandwiched between apartment buildings, tightly packed villas and endless construction sites. A footpath accompanied the river out of the city, squeezing between the water and the near-vertical slopes. In certain places, such as under the bridge, the gap was large enough for a small campsite. The relative privacy it afforded, and the shelter from the elements, meant this was precisely what had sprung up there.” Six Steps to Salvation by P.J. Murphy, Chapter 1

The Rhône

“The water glowed fluorescent turquoise, where the clear water from Lac Léman met the sediment from the Arve. Back in the UK, he would have assumed nuclear contamination; here, he accepted nature at work.” Six Steps to Salvation by P.J. Murphy, Chapter 1

The Monster

Mary Shelley famously wrote Frankenstein in Geneva. To celebrate this, young children today are terrified by the status of Frankenstein’s Monster, roaming Plainpalais.

“A couple of kids were taking out their frustration on it, kicking and stamping on its foot, as though that would achieve something. Secretly, Trent wished it would animate and rip them limb from limb, not because he was particularly protective of national monuments but because it would have given him a laugh. He counted every time the world kicked back at someone other than him as a small victory.” Six Steps to Salvation by P.J. Murphy, Chapter 2.

I’ll be back soon with part 2 of the Six Steps for Salvation Geneva book tour. If you can’t wait, why not check out all my scintillating descriptions of the city by purchasing my novel from Amazon or any good (and some bad) bookshops.

P.J. Murphy's Writer Site