I don't know what I can add to the multitude of reviews of this latest from a revered author. Kushner has a knack for writing dense, albeit immersive, prose that mixes philosophy with plot. This moves slowly (sometimes it doesn't move at all) and the reader will spend a lot of time in Sadie and Bruno's heads. Oddly, the digressions into the Neanderthals were among the most engaging sections of the novel. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Kushner's fans and those who enjoy literary fiction will be pleased.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book, releasing September 3rd!

I just love Rachel Kushner's writing and will read anything she publishes. This was probably my second favorite of hers after The Flamethrowers, and the fact that I gave a spy/noir novel four stars should say something since those aren't genres I normally enjoy. There's a lot of ambiguity in this one (not unusual for a Kushner novel) and the philosophical interjections sometimes worked well and sometimes felt like a poorly-timed interruption to the plot. Sadie is a great protagonist and I loved the character study elements, though sometimes it felt like everyone else in the book was held at a remove to help facilitate that piece. Regardless, really liked this one!

When this novel started out talking about Neanderthals, my first thought was, "What is going on here? I thought this was a book about a spy who infiltrates an anarchist group in rural France." But as I got deeper into the novel, the Neanderthal bits were actually my favorite things about the book.

Ms. Kushner, a Booker Prize and National Book Award finalist, certainly knows how to write. But if you are looking for a straightforward spy thriller, forget it. This story is like a slow burn, pulling you in via an assortment of characters, most of whom I found unlikeable or one-dimensional. The protagonist, "Sadie Smith" (this is her pseudonym), really competes for the novel's primary focus with Bruno, who strangely communicates only by email in his interactions with the anarchist group, whose motivations are eco-related as they supposedly are trying to prevent farmers in the area from selling out to Big Corporations.

Sadie -- who works as a spy-for-hire since she was fired from the FBI -- apparently is working for the corporate bigwigs to unearth the group's plans (although the reader is not certain about this). There is a lot to take in and impatient readers may not appreciate a lot of the long philosophical/cultural/anthropological passages to the detriment of uncovering the motivations of the main characters. There are some interesting aspects, such as learning from the past to explain the present; the reader just has to be willing to fully engage in the mechanics of the storytelling.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC and the opportunity to review this novel.

Picked this up in an effort to check out a few of this year’s Booker Long List books without too much background knowledge. What I found was a slow (but not in a bad way, the pacing felt right!), tense story that took me a minute to get into, but once I was in I was hooked. The juxtaposition between Sadie and Bruno’s world views made for a compelling read, Sadie makes for a really compelling narrator, and overall the writing is really wonderful. I can’t wait to read/listen to interviews with the author to learn more about the nuances and themes I may have missed in a first read through. Very glad I read this!

Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley!

The premise sounded appealing to me, but I could not connect with the main character or the large amount of material that consists of Bruno's manifesto. I understand that this book has a lot of buzz so maybe it's just not my thing, but nothing seems at stake for the protagonist and I wasn't interested in any of the other characters. Appreciate the chance to give this a look.

The individual sentences crackled and sang but the story never came alive for me. I’m sorry to say so. I alternated between feeling last and feeling bored.

This book was one that caught my eye on NetGalley and I only later realized it was also longlisted for the Booker this year. The description of a female undercover agent drew my attention and as I read, the story kept it.

Even when it didn’t seem like much was “happening,” I was fascinated by “Sadie’s” inner world, her thoughts, and her understanding of herself and others. Her past work and eventual departure from the federal government in America and her foray into work as a private agent in America and beyond (in France throughout the novel) was shared through the lens of a clearly flawed, unreliable narrator. I knew from early on as “Sadie” claimed she was not an alcoholic and yet, seemed to drink incessantly, claimed she was not paranoid, yet shuddered at the sound of any crackling branch, that I was in for a journey with this woman.

I was intrigued by the other characters. Bruno’s obsession with Neanderthals and early societies, his emails about modernity, his living in a cave, all of this left me as engrossed as Sadie seemed to be by his meandering prose. Pascal and the characters at the commune where Sadie becomes “one of them” were also interesting, as were their back stories and presence in the community. As Sadie investigates their propensity for eco-terrorism and violence, I was struck by the way that class, childhood innocence, and government oversight were explored.

The bottom line: This is sort of my first foray into this genre and it definitely had me hooked. I was left a little dissatisfied with the ending and frustrated trying to make connections between all the plot points, but overall I enjoyed this and would pick up more from this author.

Narrator "Sadie Smith" is an American undercover, having infiltrated a commune in rural France as its translator. She's ruthless, an observer, a participant, an opportunist, a hired gun. As she settles into her role, she sets herself up in her boyfriend's ancestral home, near the commune. She intercepts their messages, feigning ignorance or blaming her "bad French" when things get a little hot. She's in the inner circle, but never sure if she has really been accepted.

It's Kushner, so we get motorcycles. And some very intellectual digressions, delving into the fate and history of the Neanderthals (the setting in the south of France is home to many "Thal" caves and archeological sites), Polynesian navigation, astronomical musings, class divisions, and big agriculture. Most of these philosophical components come from missives she's appropriated from underground legend Bruno Lacombe in his communications to the commune. He's literally gone underground, living in said caves, giving up as much modern frivolity as he can.

The novel is dense, biting, containing dry wit and pithy humor on every page. She cuts to a person's character by the trim of his beard, the fabric of a dress, the style of eyeglasses. I love the language choices. Instead of saying "it's hot", Kushner instead treats us to: "It was seven p.m. and the hottest part of the day, the peak temperature spike, at least forty degrees Celsius, maybe 105 in Fahrenheit, and by any measurement hot as balls". There are even Guns N' Roses references.

The last section ratchets up the suspense, in what was already a suspenseful plot. A lot of "meant to" and "planned to" while the big action pieces fall into place. Will it work? Will she be safe?

My thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital ARC.

My first Rachel Kushner and will certainly not be my last! Her writing was immersive and I was immediately connected with this story. The perfect amount of science fiction mixed with literary that I love.

One can never go wrong when picking up a Rachel Kushner book, so I knew I was in for a great read - but even I was blown away by how good this was! Unputdownable and lovely are the two words I would use to describe this!. Fantastic and utterly addictive would also suffice :) Either way, you are in for a treat! The writing is just superb.

Creation Lake is the story of Sadie, a spy for hire who's job it is is to infiltrate a group called Le Moulinards. The are a combination commune and ecoterrist group. We start out with an in depth exploration into their spiritual leader Bruno. Sadie has hacked into his emails. We are able to learn about how he feels about not only the dangers of modern infrastructure but about things like evolution. That is actually quite interesting and adds a nice addition to the book.. Kudos to Kushner for adding this and for being able to keep it interesting.
Sadie is an anti-heroine. While an unlikeable protagonist she was my favorite character that I have come across in a long time in any book that I have read. She was willing to do anything to get her job done for her client. She treated people as disposable and even used herself in degrading ways. For all of that she was an absolute delight. Kushner did a fantastic job with this character as she shared her love of wine and the fact that she was an absolute slob. She had a dry sense of humor and a total sense of superiority. Infiltrating these ecoterrorists and becoming close to the leader Pascal seemed absurdly easy.
The story wasn't terribly fast paced nor was it gripping. It was rather a character study of an amazing woman and the lengths she would go to achieve her goals. It is clear to see why it was long listed for the Booker 4.0

I loved loved loved this book. I think Kushner is such a good story teller and I was hooked in this book. The writing is elegant but also powerful and it reveals itself throughout the chapters in little bits to keep the reader involved in the story. I'm not surprised this was Longlisted for the Booker Prize after reading this and I hope it get shortlisted. This was one of my favorites from the Booker List and it made me want to pick up other books and works by Kushner. Her way of building the setting and character development is so interesting and effective.

I had mixed feelings about this book parts of it I enjoyed but didn’t love but the lengthy sections of Bruno’s philosophy and science writings were too much for me and I found extremely hard to get through and at multiple points had me almost DNFing the book.

I've heard Rachel Kushner's name for awhile, particularly for her book The Mars Room which was also nominated for the Booker, but I've not had a chance to read her now. But after reading this, I know that I need to go explore her backlist! I had a vague idea what Creation Lake was going in: a spy story / environmental fiction / mystery. But I was not prepared for all the layers that made it an excellent read.

Our narrator, "Sadie Smith," begins in Southern France trying to infiltrate a rural commune of environmental activists. She has created a whole double life for herself, including the name, getting into a relationship with a friend of the commune's founder. Her actual goal of infiltrating the commune is a bit muddled, and ambiguous nature is part of what drives the story.

The book alternates between her befriending the commune and emails, written to the commune by an older mentor. The latter at first seem a bit out of left field; there is a lot (A LOT) of talk about Neanderthals and prehistory. While relevant to the region of the commune, it is not always clear if it connects to the larger story being told. It does eventually come together, to some degree, but Kushner does not tie everything up with a neat bow. I love these kinds of endings but it might not work for everyone.

Sadie's character was one of my favorite parts of this book. She is dryly funny, with witty observations about the people around her and even her own self. She's also somewhat an ambiguous narrator. Her whole identity at the commune is made up, which leads you to question if any of her identity is real. Sadie starts to struggle with this herself as the book goes on.

I loved the mix of philosophy, history and a spy story in Creation Lake. It was such a unique combination that led to a richly layered story. Even if the Neanderthal portions dragged a little bit for me, it was well-worth it.

Rachel Kushner should be a household name. But she is a recognizable force in the literary world with numerous prestige nominations (the current book is longlisted for the Booker), and approbations from such heavy hitters as George Saunders ("I'll read anything that she writes,)" Her curiosity is far ranging, and her heroines are fearless. Kind of like her. "Sadie Smith," heroine/narrator of Creation Lake, operates under the radar and we never learn her true identity while delving deeply into her motivations and behaviors. Never mind. Through "Sadie's" infiltration of an eco terrorist group in southwestern France we explore such diverse subjects as Neanderthal dreaming and conceptual art, the rise of homo sapiens, the creation of megabasins that constitute a form of fracking involving water table and river destruction, celestial navigation. Her facts are well researched and woven into a spy thriller that contains the kind of page turning propulsive energy we've come to expect from Ms. Kushner. Can't wait to see where she takes us next.

It took me awhile to figure out what the story was about, what was real and what was a charade. The main character, the secret agent, Sadie Smith was at times clever and at times horrible. Her fascination with Bruno, a mentor for young activists that communicates via email, was odd considering her background. Bruno's description of the evolution of man from Neanderthals to modern day was really interesting. Rachel Kushner writes in a way that draws you in, almost like a living piece of art.

This book was an interesting ride. At first I felt like both the character and narrative style were deliberately holding the reader at arms length. It felt like I kept bouncing off the story and struggled to get invested. But as the story progressed, I became more and more involved with the main character as well as Bruno. The convoluted plan as well as the reflections about humanity kept me turning the page.

3 ⭐️ I mostly enjoyed this story of Sadie Smith (not her real name) , a spy for hire in France. Sometimes the anthropological ramblings of Bruno Lacombe, a reclusive activist, through his hacked email messages were a bit long and seemed too much.

There were a lot of characters that made appearances throughout the book and some just dropped off with no reason for being, Sadie’s boyfriend Lucien, Mao I and Mao II, truffle pig lady and a few others. While the writing was good, the plot dragged along and the ending was anticlimactic.

Thank you NetGalley and Scribner books for the ARC for my honest review.

CREATION LAKE by Rachel Kushner

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC ebook of Creation Lake. A 2024 Booker Prize longlisted novel.

Thirty-four year old, Sadie Smith, is a freelance undercover agent. Sadie’s powerful contacts send her to France to infiltrate an anarchist collective. Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named, Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the activists who only communicates by email. Bruno believes that the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past (Neanderthals). I was intrigued by the Cagots mentioned in this unique read. So much so, that I went down the dreaded rabbit-hole for a bit to read more about them. Very interesting to me as I did not know anything about the Cagots.

Most seemed to really enjoy this book; I liked but didn’t love. It isn’t a book I would normally gravitate to, but thought I’d give it a try. It is thought provoking for sure. Bit of politics, history, philosophy, and, anarchy.

The fact that this novel will be on shelves in approximately 11 days is just wonderful news for fans of Rachel Kushner (and for all fans of well-written, character-driven literary fiction). This is probably my favorite book of the year to date and definitely my favorite by this author, which is saying a lot. I highly recommend The Flamethrowers and The Mars Room, two earlier novels, and I'll be revisiting both later this year based of how thoroughly I enjoyed Creation Lake. There are sociopolitical aspects to all of these novels which served to draw me in quickly and raise the stakes for characters as plots unfold.

Creation Lake also contains a political/environmental protest plot, all told through the eyes of the main character. For me, the most winning component of this book is this character -- its protagonist/narrator Sadie Smith -- a 34 year old "spy" who spends most of the novel infiltrating an ecoterrorist group trying to prevent megabasins from being built in France and destroying the lives of local farmers..

Sadie also recounts a few other "jobs" she has been assigned to in the past (none sounding especially successful) and the reader is left with a potentially unreliable narrator -- a wry observer with unsparing wit. I can't remember laughing so consistently throughout a book -- Sadie's observations, judgments, her disdain and approval -- all told with such a colorful and jaded voice. I just loved this character!!

I spent most of my time laughing through line after line of Sadie's thoughts and opinions and also her interception of the emails of Bruno Lacombe - an unforgettable and utterly unique gentleman who has a tragic past, a rich history, and acts as a "mentor" for the group of eco-protestors. Bruno, now living in an elaborate underground cave system, also supplies a highly creative interpretation of the history of "man" -- giving a shout-out to the Neanderthals and counseling against violence as an option in their efforts to protect the farming land. Without providing too many additional details, I'll just say that the brilliance of Kushner's writing shines through -- her unique observations and the characters' voices, the setting, the twists and turns, and the dark, cutting humor -- I just flat-out loved this book. All of the subplots (with Sadie's history and Bruno's musings and the protest of the megabasins, among others) come together at the conclusion of the book which I also found very satisfying. Longlisted for the Booker Prize and I can absolutely see why.!! LOVE THIS ONE!