''Creation Lake'' is a 2024 novel by Rachel Kushner. It was shortlisted for the

2024 Booker Prize The 2024 Booker Prize is a literary award worth £50,000 given for the best English-language novel published between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024 in either the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner, Samantha Harvey (author), Samantha Ha ...

Synopsis

"Sadie Smith," a pseudonymous freelance spy, works to undermine environmental activists. After being hired to disrupt a farming cooperative in France, she begins to suspect that her mission risks undermining her own humanity.

Development history

''Creation Lake'' is Kushner's fourth novel. She has cited

Jean-Patrick Manchette Jean-Patrick Manchette (19 December 1942, Marseille – 3 June 1995, Paris) was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote ten short novels in the seventies and early eighties, and is widely recognized ...

and

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophist ...

as inspirations for the book, along with time spent with performance artists in the 1980s. The main character Sadie is based on the real-life events surrounding Eric McDavid's arrest and the UK undercover police officer Mark Kennedy.

Publication history

The novel was published in the United States by Scribner on September 3, 2024. It was published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a British publishing firm headquartered in London and founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard (1893–1968) set up the publishing house in ...

Reception

It appeared on 16 lists of the best books of the year. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' positively described the book as being a "deft, brainy take on the espionage novel." ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' praised the novel's themes and Kushner's integration of philosophical discussion into the narrative. ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

'' noted that Kushner's writing used clear language and did not lean into realism, with Kushner instead crafting a disturbing, threatening world, while ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

s Anthony Cummings described the book as being "hugely enjoyable," praising the characters and worldview of the novel. M. John Harrison, also writing in ''The Guardian'', praised Kushner's characterization of Sadie, describing the character as "complex and fascinating."

Dwight Garner Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ...

, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', described the novel as an improvement over Kushner's previous works and noted the integration of philosophy and historical flashbacks into the story. ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' noted that the book built on themes from Kushner's previous novels, singling out "failures of self-liberation" as a key theme in her work. ''Slate'' and ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' were similarly positive, with the former noting that the novel explored "universal" ideas and the latter praising the novel's plot. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' was more negative, criticizing the book's pacing and what the reviewer described as a lack of suspense. Brandon Taylor, writing in The ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'', described the novel as being "sloppy" and Sadie's characterization as being unbelievable. The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' criticized the book's reliance on email monologues for exposition.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Books 2024 American novels Charles Scribner's Sons books English-language novels Jonathan Cape books Novels set in France