Search

Search only in certain items:

40x40

ClareR (5841 KP) rated Creation Lake in Books

Jan 20, 2025  
Creation Lake
Creation Lake
Rachel Kushner | 2024 | Contemporary, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Creation Lake was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and I can see why. I really enjoyed this story of a spy called Sadie, who infiltrates an eco-terrorist cult in France. They are led from afar by a man called Bruno, who lives in a cave, and believes that the only way to save humanity is to give up technology and return to out non-mechanised, non- fossil-fuelled past. They are extremists, but even the eco-cult reach a point where they can see that Bruno’s vision goes a bit too far.

I really enjoyed reading Bruno’s emails with Sadie (she has hacked into the email account of the eco-terrorists), got really involved with his theories, googled some and discovered that what he was saying may not have been 100% true or sane.

Sadie is an observer. She’s not your typical all action spy, but she certainly drinks quite a lot of alcohol and has to fend off a lot of unwanted male advances. But she does also use her sexuality to get what she wants.

There are some observations on the state of modern life: greedy landowners who will do anything to make money, the effects of modern life on the young (there’s a young boys story that I found particularly disturbing, and the fact that I wasn’t surprised by it, made it all the more disturbing!).

There were several laugh out loud moments in this too, and the laughs tended to come most needed.

I liked this thought-provoking, tongue-in-cheek novel, and I thought that the way that Bruno’s emails were dotted throughout the novel really worked well alongside Sadie’s investigations.