Creation Lake

There are 45 members of Le Moulin living on 11 hectares of land. They grow several different crops as well as a mixture of fruit and vegetables to be either consumed by the members of the commune or sold at market, the proceeds split equally among Le Moulin’s members. Pascal shows Sadie around the property, introducing her to various people as they work. She learns that although Pascal believes in the importance of family, childcare is communal. Children can look to more people than their parents for love, help, and support. He muses that it is difficult not to reproduce gender inequality on the commune: They have no nannies, so women tend to group around the children while men perform manual labor. Sadie notices that Pascal does not use Bruno’s first name. Rather, he speaks of “Lacombe” as he does of Hegel or Marx, reverently and by last name only. As Pascal shows Sadie around the walnut grove, she feels the onset of an ocular migraine.

Pascal then shows Sadie the library, introducing her to the young intellectuals whose work she will be translating. She is struck by the commune’s stratification. These young people appear clean-cut and seem to have come from affluent families. They contrast markedly with the earthy, physically robust men who dig ditches, construct buildings, and tend to the crops.

Pascal invites Sadie to dinner, but she declines. On her way out of the commune, she runs into Nadia again. Nadia is combative and asks if Sadie is romantically involved with Pascal. Sadie laughs and explains that she is marrying Pascal’s friend Lucien. Nadia offers Sadie a ride, and she accepts.

Nadia, Sadie muses, is still hurt because she was expelled from the commune. Nadia has nothing but vitriolic judgement for Pascal and the rest of the Moulinards, and she scoffs that Pascal believes himself to be the reincarnation of Guy Debord. Sadie wonders if her bitterness would be so pronounced if she were still living on the commune.

Nadia drops Sadie off in town. She tells Sadie that she is staying in the ruins of a nearby castle. She lives with a truffle-hunting pig whom she has named Bernadette. Sadie asks to speak with her again in a few days, and the two agree that Sadie will stop by the castle.

Back at the Dubois home, Sadie researches Burdmoore, one of the Moulinards whom she spoke with earlier. He has a long rap sheet full of petty offenses. She is not surprised, but the Moulinards fall even lower in her estimation as a result of this new knowledge. Lucien calls, and she tells him that his uncle Robert visited her and that she discovered him touching himself in the car. This accusation is false, but Sadie knows that Robert will accurately interpret it as a warning to stay away from her. Lucien expresses a desire to see Sadie. She shudders at the memory of sex with him and is grateful that by the time his film wraps up in Marseille, she will be long gone.

Sadie finishes the documentary that Vito recommended. It includes an interview with an Italian sex worker. As she listens to the woman describe her trade, Sadie recalls the young boy whom she entrapped in the case that got her fired from the FBI. She feels no remorse.

Sadie recalls an evening spent drinking with Lucien, Serge, Vito, and the rest of the film crew in Marseille. The businessmen in the bar reminded her of the kind of power brokers who were likely in charge of industrialization in Guyenne.

Sadie is pleased to learn that Robert is in a coma. He will be no threat to her now. Agathe will also leave her alone, trapped as she will be at Robert’s side in the hospital.

Sadie spends more time on the commune. As she does, she notes the truth behind Pascal’s assertion that gender inequality could not help but be replicated in communal groups. The women, she observes, do the cooking, cleaning, and childcare. The men perform manual labor but are also the intellectuals. In the library, where she works on translation, she is the sole woman.

Sadie meets Jean Violaine, the group’s other mentor. He tells the group about the ongoing crisis in the dairy industry: Milk now costs more to produce than it is worth, and dairy farmers are despondent. He marks one group of farmers’ vote to oppose the area’s proposed water megabasins as a success, and the Moulinards agree. After he leaves, however, they argue about the politics of many small farmers: They are racist, mistrustful of outsiders, and opposed to immigration. Amused, Sadie reflects that none of these affluent boys have ever spent much time among the working classes. Pascal agrees and defends the farmers: In an abstract way, he argues, all that the farmers really want is to continue their old ways of living in harmony with the earth.

Sadie is beginning to miss the United States and American culture. She acknowledges that the French have superior literature and cheese, but that is where the superiority ends for her. She prefers the English language and other aspects of American life to their French counterparts.

One day at the commune, one of the men, Rene, approaches Sadie, wishing to speak with her alone. Hoping that he has turned against Pascal and can provide her with information on the group’s illegal activities, she agrees. As it turns out, Rene simply wants sex. Sadie goes along with it, hoping that he will be useful later.

Sadie brings provisions to Nadia. She hopes that Nadia will be able to provide her with information, so she pretends to strike up a friendship with her. Nadia still has one friend on the commune, and Sadie finds out that the Moulinards perceive her as an elitist because she primarily spends time with Pascal’s inner circle. She decides to spend more time with the ordinary members of the commune going forward.

In Bruno’s emails, Sadie discovers that Bruno is learning about “ghost populations,” genetic ancestors to humans that are as yet unknown to science. She also learns that the term “Stone Age” is inaccurate and reductive. Though the stone tools used by Neanderthals have survived through the ages, they also used tools made from cloth, wood, and feathers. Such items degraded over time and are no longer present at Neanderthal sites. Evidence is mounting that the Neanderthals hunted small game, fish, and birds, contradicting early assertions that they only went after large game. The truth, Bruno muses, is often more complex than it seems.

Sadie tries to cultivate relationships with other Moulinards. She starts with Aurelie, a woman who mistrusts her because of her relationship with the group’s leaders. (This is information that she gleaned from Nadia.) She navigates the group with caution, taking care not to be too sexy (this would threaten the women) or too domineering (this would threaten the men). She manages to ingratiate herself with Aurelie one afternoon at the local swimming hole. She hopes that the rapport they establish will become useful and that the rest of the Moulinards will also open up to her.

Sadie continues to spend time with Aurelie. She also continues to have sex with Rene. She learns that he was once a factory worker in Germany. She is attracted to him in a way that she is not to Lucien, but she feels no particular attachment to their relationship.

Sophie continues to see Rene, allowing him to visit her at the Dubois house. She hopes that Lucien does not decide to surprise her. She passes the rest of the time at home reading and drinking.

Aurelie tells Sadie that the group plans to stage a protest of the proposed reservoirs at the local farmer’s market.