I loved the mixed timeline/dual narrator format of this book. It's a beautiful and elegantly written reflection on mother and son relationships and on queerness/being other. The story unfolded slowly but I was captivated throughout. I loved the description of Japan, too. Great characterisation and psychological insight.

I had a slight issue with the dialogue. The lack of punctuation and typesetting made it hard to read at times.

A clever, poignant novel, which is just what I expected from Bryan Washington. The tension between the mother and son and the development of their relationship felt so *real* and genuine (and the clever decision to not offer their names - though I was desperate to know them by the end!- gave the story a fable-esque sensation. As though it was an old story, one that happens again and again, to many mothers and sons….).

I struggled slightly with the son’s group of friends (Alan et al.) as I didn’t really feel I related to any of them, and their appearances felt a little forced. But this is a very minor point about an otherwise exquisite book that I inhaled in one sitting. Having read all of Washington’s previous work, it was such a delight to see his latest novel available on NetGalley. This was such a huge privilege to read, so many, many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance!

Bryan Washington is such a good writer. In Palaver we meet a son who has fled to Tokyo, building a life for himself after his family rejected him for being gay. We meet a mother who waits a decade to travel to Tokyo, coming after a single phone call hoping to bring him home. What follows is their failure to communicate through the hurt until things start to change, imperceptibly and quietly. Each finds a way to approach each other through the kindness of others and their ability to read them better than they understand themselves. Spare, powerful and slightly off kilter. This feels like a fight that becomes a dance.

Palaver, by the award winning novelist Bryan Washington, tells the story of a mother and son - neither named in the narrative - and of their life in Tokyo. Washington explores themes of queerness and identity through a sparse, beautiful narrative tone. Washington lives in Tokyo and you can sense the love he has for that city breathing vividly off the page, you can smell it's streets. His characterisation is equally well done, and I found it very easy to connect with his two central characters - that his secondary characters are less well drawn might be a shortcoming in others works, but here it helps amplify Washington's initial themes of alienation and finding ones place.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and read it in one sitting. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Palaver is a novel about an estranged mother and son who are suddenly staying together in Tokyo and have to try and navigate the spaces in their lives for their relationship. The son lives in Japan, having left Texas and his homophobic brother for life as an English tutor, spending his evenings drinking in a gay bar in Ni-Chome. All of a sudden, his mother arrives in Japan, unexpectedly. They struggle to live alongside one another, but as they slowly start to talk, and they both develop other connections in Tokyo, they start to gain more understanding of each other at this moment in their lives.

Having read Washington's previous novels and short story collection, I would've read this anyway, but the fact that it is set in Japan and explores a gay man's experiences in Tokyo was even more of a selling point. The book feels deeply immersed in Tokyo, and in ideas of community and location in relation to loneliness and separation. It creates a vivid atmosphere, even in the mundane details. The son spends time with a group who gather at a local gay bar, many of whom have moved from other countries to Japan, and the book is full of characters who move in search of home, whatever that might be. I liked the subplot about the bar patrons and the bar owner getting top surgery and them all supporting his recovery, which serves as a quiet reminder of queer community and family in a book all about the fact that family shouldn't just be taken as a given.

Quietly powerful, Palaver is a book that manages to be deeply about its characters and their present and past, but also very much about its setting too, and the importance of places and what they mean to people.

Palaver is Bryan Washington’s most intimate and emotionally layered novel yet. Set in Tokyo, it follows a young man who's built a quiet life far from his hometown of Houston—until his estranged mother shows up after ten years apart. What follows is a deeply human story about family, forgiveness, and the messiness of reconnecting. Washington’s writing is subtle, honest, and full of heart. He captures the awkward silences and emotional weight between people who love each other but don’t always know how to say it. The Tokyo setting adds depth without stealing the show—it’s the characters and their quiet unraveling that really shine. It’s tender, thoughtful, and lingers with you in all the right ways.

Having previously read and enjoyed Memorial, I was super keen to read more of Washington's work. Palaver did not let me down! In fact, I think I liked it even more than Memorial. I love the writing style and the depth of the characters, Washington really does a great job of making them feel real and relatable. I really felt so much emotion as a result of this novel. I found the story itself to be captivating, moving and powerful. It kept me engaged throughout and I was really invested in the story and the characters.

This was a beautiful exploration of a mother and son's fragile and complicated relationship. Throughout the book, the theme of family is interwoven in the characters - both chosen and biological - and this is what I enjoyed most about the book, the idea that every family structure has it's own issues but it is within this sometimes messy chaos that there is a lot of heart found. Beautifully written, as always, this was such a great read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This was one of those books that i could not wait until my day was done and I could start reading again. There is something about the way Washington writes that just draws you in to the characters lives and their surroundings . I love the fact that whilst reading you also felt like you were in Japan, it's written so vividly with such a sense of place which is something I LOVE from a book.

The book also feels very real . The son who moved to Tokyo from America is a lonely soul, spending his nights drinking with friends whilst being involved with a married man . He hasn't seen his mother in ten years when she arrives uninvited in Japan. She also appears to be a bit lost as she revisits memories of her youth in Jamaica and the difficult relationship she had with her brother. Initially the mother and son clash but slowly overtime they start to talk and try to build bridges. They share meals, travels, experiences , all things that all of us do when in another country or when we are trying to heal relationships.

It's funny, sad , honest and just one of those beautifully written books you will be sad to finish .

The historical definition of palaver is 'an improvised conference between two groups, typically those without a shared language or culture', according to 'Oxford Language' and this perfectly sums up this brilliant book by Bryan Washington. This mother/son story, set in Japan where the son now lives, doesn't make it clear, initially, why the mother has decided to travel from the States to Japan to see her son. He is equally in the dark and is very inhospitable towards her on her arrival. He attempts to continue his life as if she were not there, while she makes inroads into navigating her way around this new city. Much of this feels metaphorical - exploring past and present events and places echoes the journeys both protagonists are engaged in to make sense of their own worlds and each others'. There are lots of themes interwoven and lots of hints and unanswered questions for the reader, as much as for the mother and son. Why has she come? Why is he so unwelcoming? Does she know he is gay? Does/might she disapprove? Are either of them happy? Nothing is given away too soon, not as in a mystery tale, but as in real life where we don't always understand one another. What is unsaid is just as important - sometimes more so - than what is said. This is a real journey of discovery for both the mother and the son and Washington's masterful style takes us on a simultaneous journey. I adored this book and highly recommend it for its subtlety, unspoken messages and ultimate hope.