Bryan Washington‘s second novel, Memorial (2020) is set in the same Houston as his debut, Lot (parts of Memorial are set in Tokyo as well). Less an ensemble piece than Lot, Memorial focuses on a single relationship between two young men, one Japanese, one African-American.
Their immediate families are central to the narrative as well, but the novel is really about the formation, unraveling, and re-emergence of their relationship. Like Lot, Memorial is focused on life at the margins, and the struggles of those who inhabit them. One of the men is a chef, the other works at an after-school care center. Their relationship is told lovingly, with details that are impactful.
Memorial is a book about absence: the first thing one of the men does is leave, heading back to Japan to see his dying father; his mother comes the other way, and her relationship with her son’s lover is gently and warmly–if a little predictably–presented. Both men are searching for family that is not present, and the central question of the narrative seems to be if they will be able to find something that passes for that in each other.
It’s a stirring and evocative story, and whereas Lot was attractive partially through its Houstonian setting, Memorial is far more universal in its appeal.