Palaver

Washington revisits the Japanese setting of his novel Memorial with a bighearted drama about a 30-something Houston man’s reunion with his estranged mother. At the outset, the unnamed protagonist, known only as “the son,” gets an unexpected visit from his mother in Tokyo, where he’s spent the past 12 years teaching English. She’s curious to know more about his life, but they struggle to connect beyond small talk, and the son remains embittered at her failure to support him when he came out as gay many years earlier. Meanwhile, the son grapples with his feelings for the married man he’s been seeing and another man he’s recently met, who might be a better match. During a sightseeing trip with his mother, the pair finally put it all on the table, but struggle to find resolution: she misses him and wants him to come back to Texas with her, but he insists Japan is his home now, as he’s built a tight circle of friends in Tokyo. The situation is rather straightforward, but Washington’s nuanced portrait of the gulf between mother and son and their difficulties bridging it offers keen insights into human relationships, showing “how people change through others” as they “try to figure out what works for us.” The author’s fans will love this. (Nov.)