In Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, “Sadie Smith” is a secret agent for undisclosed clients. She’s adept at manipulation, which she demonstrates while ingratiating herself, first with a Parisian man, and later a counter-culture group in rural France.
As she learns more about the group she becomes intrigued by a hermit, Bruno, who lives in a cave and mentors those in the commune. He does this via emails, which Sadie intercepts; she becomes enthralled by his writing on early man. He wants the group to return to pre-industrial, and even prehistoric lifestyles. But, there’s more to Bruno than his knowledge of prehistory (the recounting of the history of the medieval Cagots is fascinating); Sadie is captivated by his ideas for not just what it means for Bruno’s mentees, but what a less deceptive life could mean for her.
As the narrative expands, it becomes less clear who’s manipulating who. Sadie works with the group to plan a protest against the government’s plan to divert water meant for farming to “megabasins” to be used by agricultural corporations. However, her intent is to have the commune members make it a violent demonstration.
There’s a lot of intrigue and double-crossing, and Kushner’s fast-paced writing makes it difficult to keep up with who are the good guys, or if anyone is. Certainly, Sadie’s ability to disregard and/or exploit others makes her unlikeable, yet, strangely, she’s the character you care about who she trusts, while maintaining her cover, which has a bearing on her safety.
Creation Lake
Three and-a-half bookmarks
Scribner, 2024
404 pages
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