Memorial, the 2020 novel by Bryan Washington is not a tragedy. It is a multilayered gay love story.
Benson, a young Black child care worker, and Mike, a Japanese-born, American-raised chef about four years older, have been lovers for four years.They share a one-bedroom apartment in the historically Black now gentrifying Third Ward of Houston, Texas. Their relationship has reached a turning point with Benson shutting down Mike's attempts to talk about their future. Although they love each other, they have serious problems communicating. Their frequent fights end in passionate sex
Often not knowing how they feel, they can't articulate their feelings. They come from similar broken family backgrounds. Both fathers are homophobic.
The novel opens with Benson's first person account of how Mike's mother Mitsuko is about to arrive from Japan to stay with him. She has told him his estranged father Eiju is dying of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in Osaka. Mike announces that he is going to Osaka to reunite with him after sixteen years, leaving the shocked Benson with the prospect of living with a Japanese woman he has never met.
Memorial follows the couple as they work out their complicated shifting feelings for each other and their families. The first half of the book is Benson's account of living with the acerbic Mitsuko whose one liners can be very funny. The second part is Mike's first person account of his experience with his father who owns a bar in a red light district of Osaka and he thinks of his memories, The third section of the book is Benson's point of view of what happens when Mike returns ro Houston. We can empathise with both young men.
Being who they are, Benson and Mike and all the characters in the book face multiple challenges based on historical and present treatment of their communities, social class differences, cultural differences. They have no wise elders to look to for advice or guidance
Benson and Mike and their families and friends are complex, nuanced characters. They are flawed, but often kind. None of them is unforgivable. They grow in many ways and seem to develop ways of repairing their relationships. One of the ways some of them do this is by sharing food and cooking for and with each other.
By the end of the book, there were hopeful developments, but I was left with questions about Benson and Mike's future. The author has admitted, "the ending is not quite clear". It is as if he didn't know how to resolve it.