Creation Lake

"Shortlist"

"For a spy novel, Creation Lake has a straightforward setup: A ruthless agent, backed by a mysterious and deep-pocketed client, infiltrates a group of radical environmentalists in rural France. But Rachel Kushner’s latest work – nominated for the Booker Prize and a National Book Award – is as much an espionage thriller as it is a treatise on philosophy, human evolution, anarchism and medieval peasant uprisings. The agent “Sadie Smith” narrates the novel. She’s perceptive, funny, cruel, amoral. A spy-for-hire who revels in exploiting weakness. In her isolation, Sadie sees herself as a master manipulator. But is someone else pulling her strings?"