The Thick and the Lean

Porter (The Seep) uses exquisite dystopian worldbuilding to critique the Western obsession with controlling women’s bodies in this powerful sci-fi fable. Reiko Rimando hopes to escape the poverty of the often flooded Bastian region with a scholarship to study artistic tech in the Middle, and even harbors secret aspirations of a rarified life of wealth living in the sky of the Above—but then her funding is pulled, and she instead turns to cybercrime and artifice to scam the rich. Meanwhile, Beatrice Bolano escapes the extremist religious community of Seagate where hunger is holy and eating only the minimum to survive puts citizens “closer to angels than animals” but casual public sex starting at puberty is nearly a cultural requirement, in pursuit of her dream of becoming a chef. Though at a distance from one another for most of the novel, Reiko and Beatrice are linked by their discovery and love of the same secret thousand-year-old book: humble kitchen maid Ijo’s cookbook-memoir. Porter’s sensual descriptions of even the simplest foods, inspired foraging, and creative cookery will resonate with those who love foodie fiction, while her visceral and blatant expressions of body, racial, and class stigma and fetishism give her allegory a heavy punch. This is sure to impress. (Apr.)