Bryan Washington's 'Palaver': A Tense Tokyo Reunion

A mother visits her estranged gay son in Tokyo in Bryan Washington's new novel, *Palaver*. Their story explores exile, family conflict, food, and sex. The word "palaver" means a complex negotiation between different cultures. This idea is central to the book. Washington often writes about cultural clashes and difficult conversations. His first novel, *Memorial*, followed a failing interracial gay relationship. His second, *Family Meal*, examined a troubled queer love triangle. In *Palaver*, the main characters are known only as "the son" and "the mother." The son is an American English teacher who has lived in Tokyo for ten years. He has been distant from his Jamaican-American mother in Texas. The book begins when the mother arrives without warning at his home in Japan. Over ten days, the story shifts between their viewpoints. Under Tokyo's neon lights, they carefully navigate a painful past and move toward a possible reconciliation.