Only when a story is extremely specific does it become universal a concept Washington understands well. “Only when a story is extremely specific does it become universal a concept Washington understands well.” Unwitting departures, domino effects, revelations, self-discovery, estrangement, and family dynamics are important themes throughout this intricate love story-the exact kind of story that speaks to our current epoch. Although it’s not immediately apparent to the protagonists, Benson and Mike go through a transformative awakening of their own desires, capturing the complexities in multiracial and intercultural same-sex relationships. Personal history and how it informs identity are a key motif in Washington’s novel. Washington writes spectacularly from the inner perspectives of Benson and Mike, who struggle with the relationships in their lives. They are separated when Mike leaves for Osaka to be with his estranged father dying of cancer, leaving Benson in Texas with his mother Mitsuko. Benson, a Black man and Mike, a Japanese-American man are a young couple living in Boston. The essence of Bryan Washington’s debut novel, Memorial, is the invisible barriers that dictate what we can be, who we can be with and where we will end up.
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