A finalist for this year’s National Book Award for Fiction in the U.S., Bryan Washington’s “Palaver” is a gentle exploration of leaving and arriving, decidedly full of belief in the power of relationships that allow people to find love and a sort of home.
It begins with a mother receiving a call from her estranged son who lives in Tokyo and flying out to see him out of concern. Interspersed with black-and-white photographs of Tokyo and Nara, the novel moves back and forth between the perspective of the mother, experiencing the chaos of Japan’s capital for the first time, and the son, who has made Shinjuku and the queer nightlife district of Ni-chome his home. After the mother’s sudden arrival, the two live a life crammed together in the son’s small apartment but often spend their days apart as the son disappears into his private life and the mother is forced to find her own way in the city.
Palaver, by Bryan Washington. 336 pages. MACMILLAN, Fiction.
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