Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (paperback english)

Creation Lake is a 2024 novel that combines espionage, environmental politics, and philosophical inquiry. The story follows Sadie Smith, a thirty-four-year-old American secret agent hired by shadowy powers to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists in rural France. As she watches and manipulates, she also finds herself drawn into the group’s ideals through the charismatic leader Bruno Lacombe, who questions modern civilization, advocates a return to more primal roots, and challenges the boundary between duty and morality. The novel is praised for its rich ideas, dark humour, sharp prose, and its probing reflections on history, ideology, and what we lose when disconnected from nature.