This novel from Portland author Michael Keefe imagines a world in which it’s possible to digitize consciousness, even to revisit after death.

Although I’ve always liked rainy weather, November — which has a reputation for that wind-and-rain, one-two punch — is always the month when I find myself holding my breath.

Distracting oneself with good reading, I’ve found, is a tactic for moving beyond those Seasonal Affective Disorder blues.

To that end, I have a compelling book for your consideration — although, come to think of it, “All Her Loved Ones, Encoded” is such a successfully wrought dystopian novel that it may leave you feeling grimmer than ever.

Well, forewarned is forearmed — let’s take a look.

Portland author Michael Keefe started writing this story in 2019, but said that the following year, which many of us may recall as a yearlong November in some ways, had a profound impact on the novel he has now brought into the world.

This week’s book

“All Her Loved Ones, Encoded” by Michael Keefe

Running Wild Press — 256 pp — $19.99

“All Her Loved Ones, Encoded” spans more than a century of a family’s obligations and choices, all of which have led to the moment in the opening chapter when, on the outskirts of a coastal California town in February 2057, in the dying evening light of a dying world, Kiana is digging a grave for her dying husband.

But the good news is: Javi isn’t dead yet.

And Kiana has a plan. Later that night, under cover of darkness, she will be going into town to purchase an unregulated terminal on the black market. This will give her access to full internet speed, which the government has been very stingy about sharing for the last many years.

But this type of access will allow her to digitize her husband’s consciousness before he expires, so that she’ll be able to visit his avatar, like the avatar of their dead daughter, in virtual reality whenever she wants.

The program is called Level Up, a multisensory simulation of real life, which allows its users to feed photos, videos and more into their personal, virtual world-building portfolios.

But Kiana’s scheme quickly goes awry when the black market seller she meets up with turns out to be an undercover cop, who promptly arrests her and puts her behind bars.

This is just the first episode in a night full of treacherous events as Kiana tries against all odds to break out of jail, locate another unregulated terminal, and get back to her husband before he dies.

In this tale, the author considers some of the burning issues that humankind is failing to deal with effectively right now — climate collapse, artificial intelligence and public health, for example — and creates a richly detailed, multigenerational, cautionary tale in “All Her Loved Ones, Encoded.”

Word to the wise: read this in the paperback format option rather than as an e-book. This novel is a bit like a scavenger hunt. You may need to do some flipping back and forth between chapters to piece together the bits of information that Keefe hides in plain sight, but in non-consecutive time jumps across decades. The e-book version felt tedious and unsatisfactory for retrieving and comparing information.