The alien invasion, we have been told, will be brutal, and our new overlords will be tyrannical and cruel. But what if instead they offered us kindness and an almost magical ability to grant our every wish? Would our happiness be ensured? Would the ease of life and the fulfillment of all our desires erase some amount of our humanity?

These questions stitch together Chana Porter’s debut novel, THE SEEP, in which a seemingly benevolent invasion of earth leaves at least one woman discontent and lonely. Trina Goldberg-Oneka, in her early 50s, has been with her partner, Deeba, for many years. They, like most people, are anxious about the arrival of The Seep and surprised that the invasion is so gentle. But as the years go by and The Seep seeps into all emotional and physical aspects of human life, Trina grows more anxious and resistant.

"Porter has a wonderfully light style that belies the serious subject matter she takes on here. This makes for a thoughtful and amusing book --- stranger than aliens because it is about the human condition."

The Seep offers humanity a kind of soft erasure; negative emotions can be dulled, life can be lived with a constant quasi-spiritual intoxication, and bodies can be modified quite radically. No stranger to thinking deeply about body and identity, Trina is not a big fan of the changes she sees in the bodies and minds all around her. Yet she finds strength in her ability to express herself as a musician and then in her new job as a doctor. And, of course, she finds strength and a sense of safety in her life with Deeba.

When Deeba begins to talk about a most extreme modification, made possible by The Seep, Trina is incredulous. After much deliberation and even arguments, Deeba decides to be remade as a baby, having made plans to be raised by a couple far away. Trina is heartbroken over Deeba’s decision and almost destroyed by the loss. She spends much time mourning Deeba and the world she knew before The Seep. Deep in a depression, Trina isolates herself, neglecting her health and her house.

A knock on the door reveals a neighbor’s complaints and an offer of help. Trina rejects the offer, but she does finally leave her house and steps into the Seep-filled world once again. In search of a drink and some companionship, she meets a boy, raised in a community free of The Seep’s influence, which encourages her to start looking beyond herself and take the first steps to move past her heartache.

THE SEEP is only barely a speculation of how such an invasion might work. Porter is unpacking themes of grief and the feelings that make us fully human. This is a slender novel, sharp-witted and often tender. Trina, stubborn and pragmatic, romantic and disillusioned, is a relatable navigator through the new world that Porter imagines. Her loss and sorrow, her love and memories, transcend the alien weirdness in which the story is set. Still, that alien weirdness is incredibly entertaining, even if Trina’s shifts and growth are the center of the novel.

Porter has a wonderfully light style that belies the serious subject matter she takes on here. This makes for a thoughtful and amusing book --- stranger than aliens because it is about the human condition.