American author Rachel Kushner spoke with Agerpres about her latest novel, 'Creation Lake', which was recently translated into Romanian and shortlisted for major literary prizes. The book features a freelance spy infiltrating an eco-anarchist collective in southwestern France, alongside a reclusive philosopher. Kushner shared insights into her inspirations, character development, and recurring themes like community and climate change.
Rachel Kushner, known for novels such as 'Telex from Cuba' (2008), 'The Flamethrowers' (2013), and 'The Mars Room' (2018), granted an interview to Agerpres on February 26, 2026. Her most recent work, 'Creation Lake' (2024), has been translated into Romanian as 'Lacul creatiei' by Alexandra Coliban (Anansi, Trei, 2025). The novel earned shortlistings for the 2024 Booker Prize, the 2025 National Book Award, and the 2025 Pen Faulkner Award.
Set in rural southwestern France around 2013, the story centers on an eco-anarchist commune called the Moulinards, who farm rocky soil under police surveillance. The protagonist, Sadie Smith—a disgraced former FBI agent working as a freelance spy—poses as a recruit to disrupt the group. Inspired by a real FBI entrapment case involving an environmental activist, Kushner explained, "What kind of person ends up becoming an agent provocateur? Who is this sort of woman, and how does she think?"
Another key character is Bruno Lacombe, a reclusive French philosopher living in a cave, loosely inspired by Jacques Camatte. He emails the collective and muses on prehistoric life and human extinction. Kushner described him as "the heart of the book, its presiding spirit," noting his opening line about Neanderthals and depression to introduce humor.
Themes include loyalty, state and corporate control, the balance between community and independence, and climate change from philosophical and political angles. Kushner highlighted Bruno's view that "we are headed toward extinction while trapped in a shiny, driverless car." She also explored Sadie's arc from remorselessness to a form of innocence, and her interest in small communities, stating, "Many of the most interesting forms of intelligence are collective."
Kushner has received the Prix Medicis and Germany's Der Spiegel Buchpreis, and her books are translated into 29 languages. She emphasized that protagonists in her novels "have the first word and the final word."