Author(s): Bryan Washington

Fiction | Josh

The stellar debut novel of two young men falling in and out of love, from the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2020. 'This feels like a vision for the 21st-century novel... It made me happy' - Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous 'Brilliantly details the smallest moments that mean the absolute most, the heartbreakingly human limitations of how we love one another' - Kiley Reid, author of Such a Fun Age Benson and Mike are two young guys who have been together for a few years - good years - but now they're not sure why they're still a couple. There's the sex, sure, and the meals Mike cooks for Benson, and, well, they love each other. But when Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka just as his acerbic Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives for a visit, Mike picks up and flies across the world to say goodbye. In Japan he undergoes an extraordinary transformation, discovering the truth about his family and his past, while back home, Mitsuko and Benson are stuck living together as unconventional roommates, an absurd domestic situation that ends up meaning more to each of them than they ever could have predicted... Funny and profound, Memorial is about family in all its strange forms, becoming who you're supposed to be and the outer limits of love. 'Funny and moving... Memorial confirms Washington as a writer not just to watch, but to read now' - The Times 'A masterclass in empathy... Washington transforms revelations into cliff-hangers, like Elena Ferrante. He writes layered sex scenes, like Garth Greenwell' - Guardian

Staff Notes: Mike travels to Osaka to visit his dying father. His boyfriend Benson is stuck at home alone with Mike's visiting mother (who, awkwardly, Benson has never met before now). Through memories, text messages, and frequent bouts of loneliness, we see the two protagonists reach across the globe to cling to a doomed romance. This is a story of a neglected love and its slow evaporation, depicted beautifully through Bryan Washington's subdued prose. - Josh