Thursday, June 12, 2025 @ 6:00 pm | Hanes House
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner | Register to attend the discussion
Creation Lake is a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics and clean beauty who is sent to do dirty work in France. "Sadie Smith" is how the narrator introduces herself to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to her lover, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian she has met by "cold bump"—making him believe the encounter was accidental. Like everyone she targets, Lucien is useful to her and used by her. Sadie operates by strategy and dissimulation, based on what her "contacts"—shadowy figures in business and government—instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more.
In this region of old farms and prehistoric caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists who believes that the path to emancipation is not revolt but a return to the ancient past. Just as Sadie is certain she's the seductress and puppet master of those she surveils, Bruno is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story.
Book Club: Far-Flung Corners
Join NCMA Winston-Salem Director Bill Carpenter to discuss six contemporary novels that span the globe while examining how intimacy and connection are formed.
Book club is open to the public – even to those who don't finish the book. Selections range from national bestsellers to experimental novels and the guided discussions cover an array of topics, from themes and imagery to plot structures and character development.