Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake has been shortlisted for the Booker prize Creation Lake Rachel Kushner (Jonathan Cape (UK, 5 September); Scribner (US, 3 September)) Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner is a thriller, a spy caper, a comedy and also a poetic take on human history all the way back to the time our species, Homo sapiens, shared Earth with the Neanderthals. It is a sensationally enjoyable novel and has deservedly made the Booker prize longlist. The story is narrated by our anti-hero, Sadie Smith (not her real name).
She is a US undercover operative working for shady employers who is sent to France to infiltrate and ultimately destroy Le Moulin, a group of eco-activists whose members are known as Moulinards. Advertisement Sadie sets about her task in an entirely amoral fashion. First, she seduces a man named Lucien who has contacts within the activists.
After a few months, she has secured work among the Moulinards and travels to Lucien's family house, conveniently placed in an area of Guyenne, south-west France, where Le Moulin is based. The roof leaks, but the house itself is a great eyrie to spy upon her prey from – a job made easier by her high-powered, military grade binoculars and a caseful of high-tech kit. The novel's structure is brilliant.
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Emily Wilson.
