Creation Lake

One of the best books of the year... ambitious, intelligent and gripping... an expertly slick thriller... Kushner pulls off a remarkable feat -- Philip Womack * Spectator *
Kushner…[is] one of the century’s great American novelists… Her hugely enjoyable new novel…already longlisted for this year’s Booker, ought to put her firmly on the map… amazingly tense: wall-to-wall entertainment, and a real treat -- Anthony Cummins * Observer *Book of the Week* *
Rachel Kushner may have written the novel of the year... A remarkably original book -- Rachel Connolly * The Telegraph *
Kushner is one of America's greatest living authors * Daily Telegraph *
Wild and brilliantly plotted… Think Kill Bill written by John le Carré: smart, funny and compulsively readable * Observer *
A novel of ideas about nothing less than civilisation itself, delivered in the guise of a thriller – the result is profound and wickedly entertaining. -- Lisa Allardice * Guardian *
At last I get to say how deeply, madly, irrecoverably I loved Creation Lake...it was all stylish and cool, and then somehow the book struck a blow to my heart, which surprised me a lot, because I did not suspect what Rachel Kushner was really up to all along. -- Louise Erdrich * Kirkus *
Questions of control and coercion, reality and idealism, are layered on top of Kushner’s enveloping noir. ‘Sadie’ has a brash confidence and a manner of moving through the world that is aloof in the extreme—disbanding any allegiances or affections before they can create the faintest of tethers. But Kushner’s plot—at once arid and affecting—asks just how much any human can insulate themselves * Vogue *
Kushner’s writing is clean, tight and often very funny as she jumps between past and present but never loosens her iron grip on the reader’s attention * Bloomberg *
Kushner has proved to be one of America’s most intellectually curious novelists....Creation Lake bears all the hallmarks of her inquisitive mind and creative daring... a spy thriller laced with a killer dose of deadpan wit...Kushner inhabits the spy’s perspective with such eerie finesse that you feel how much fun she’s having...the real covert operative here is Kushner, who’s never felt more cunning than in this novel...vital and profound * The Washington Post *
This capacious, brainy, [Booker] longlisted novel is her [Kushner’s] most ambitious yet; it is also her most slyly entertaining… a marvellous creation * Daily Mail *
A sensationally enjoyable novel and has deservedly made the Booker prize longlist… [it is] gripping…with perfect dramatic timing * New Scientist *
A lively, timely, satisfyingly rough-grained novel of ideas…[with] an excitingly complex and fascinating narrator… Sadie is a triumph of character… the world pours in on her senses, and through hers into ours * Guardian *
Creation Lake, embeds big, timely ideas in a ploy that’s propulsive and fun * Mail on Sunday *
An electrifying thriller and a profound novel of ideas * Guardian, *Autumn Picks of 2024* *
An ambitious story about nihilism, Trojan-horsed into a fun spy thriller * New Statesman *
Hugely enjoyable…Creation Lake is a smart, funny novel that dares to contemplate the void of uncertainty where we all stand * Sunday Times, *Book of the Week* *
Creation Lake is both smart and funny. It sparks with intellectual vim * Daily Telegraph *
A philosophical novel of ideas wrapped up in a spy caper… The prose is thrilling, and the audacious character of “Sadie Smith” – a kind of steely self-willed superwoman, whose veneer begins to crack as the novel goes on – irresistible * Guardian *
A dazzling, genre-defying novel, satirical yet profound… Sadie Smith remains an elusive and beguiling secret agent, worthy of a new adventure -- Genevieve Gaunt * Spectator *