I’ve read quite a lot of historical fiction recently so it felt refreshing to be plunged into Bryan Washington’s contemporary Texas. This is the third work of his I’ve read (one of the few authors I’m up to date with). His collection of short stories “Lot” (2019) I found powerful and brutal and I rated his first novel “Memorial” (2021) five stars finding it less spiky which provoked a real emotional response from me. This second novel feels closer to the stories in “Lot”.
Bryan Washington likes to explore family dynamics in the modern world; that’s both biological and the people you’d choose to be family, those that stick by and support. As a gay black man who has his 30th birthday this month his characters are unsurprisingly diverse in terms of race, culture and sexual identity. There are three main characters here who each provide first-person narratives. Cam is a mess, he’s returned back to the Houston area following the death of his partner and is getting by through casual pick-ups and an eating disorder. As a teenager Cam stayed with his friend TJ’s parents and TJ gets back in touch and is the second narrator. The third is Kai, the dead boyfriend whose ghost Cam sees. Cam attempts to get his life together as TJ begins to question his and despite the prickliness of their relationship they do what they can to support each other.
We begin with Cam which feels a little brave as he is so closed off to the world that his narrative is difficult to relate to but this pays off when TJ takes over as we gain a real understanding of what Cam has gone through and the strength of the bonds between these two as they work in TJ’s family’s bakers. There’s a lot of talk which means progress through this book is quite quick.
After three works set in the same location there are echoes of a modern take of Armistead Maupin’s “Tales Of The City” but here with a strong urban Black American feel and with Houston and its residents taking the place of San Francisco. What the two authors have in common is real heart which means here throughout the questionable behaviours, the characters’ indifference to all the gay sex they seek out, the complexities of their past and present and the difficulty of negotiating the modern world there’s a surprising positivity which remains with the reader. I did find this more in “Memorial” but it is certainly also here in a novel which will continue to enhance this author’s reputation.
Family Meal is published by Atlantic Books on 12th October 2023. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the advance review copy.

I have read Bryan Washington's previous two books and this one was easily my favourite. Cam & TJ grew up together & when Cam's parent's die in a car accident TJ's family takes him in. he works at their bakery but he desperately wants to move &. leave Houston behind him. which he does. until years later, when his boyfriend Kai dies and he finds himself back in the city.

on the surface this is a novel about sex and food. it is very, very heavy on both. but neither of these things can be separated from grief, from longing, from tragedy. we get three perspectives here - Cam, Kai and TJ but most heavily focussed on Cam & TJ. their relationship has been strained for a few years and with Cam back home they hesitantly find their way back to each other.

I really enjoyed spending time with this one, the characterisations felt so vivid, even down to the side characters. would thoroughly recommend.

This week I was accompanied by Bryan Washingtons new words at 2/3/4am and it made it all a little easier. I have been talking to a lot of friends recently about what constitutes too much trauma in a novel, what feels voyueristic or sadistic or unethical on part of the author. Washington’s newest novel, similar to his previous, deals with complicated queer relationships, grief and trauma for sure. It’s full of difficult life experiences but
what so clearly marks the difference, is the care and softness he treats his characters(and therfore his readers),with.

What a joy it is to feel safe in an authors story, to feel held in the midst of unfair unjust and difficult human experience, to feel supported even when those words touch your most tender parts.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC!

4.5 stars!

Family Meal by Bryan Washington is one of those beautiful, terrible books that make every other book on your TBR seem so unappealing once you finish it. I hated to leave behind Cam and TJ and Noel, they all felt like friends by the end despite the book only being a scant 300 pages. I’ve read all of Washington’s work up to this point and I think he’s just going from strength to strength!
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His third book (second novel) centres around Cam who is dealing with losing the love of his life. He returns to Houston from LA, finds work in a struggling gay bar and ends up face to face with his childhood best friend TJ. Cam and TJ’s chequered past is slowly revealed, and my word is this book messy. But we love a bit of mess, don’t we?? I was obsessed with Cam and TJ’s friendship, the intensity, the familiarity, the occasionally-cruel banter of childhood friends. Their friendship is a much-needed balm to Cam’s self-destructive behaviours (TW for disordered eating), which are very difficult to read about.
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Midway through the book the perspectives shift and we hear from other characters, though mainly TJ. At first I was surprised by this choice, as I had anticipated being in Cam’s head the whole way through. But I quickly warmed to the other POVs and I thought it was a brilliant decision so we could view the relationships centred in the book from both sides. TJ allowed Washington to explore more themes through the eyes of a plus-size, pos, queer mixed race man.
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Family Meal is gloriously messy, tender without being saccharine, a simultaneous ode to friendship and exploration of grief. Highly recommend!

"Another thing Kai liked to say: love is tangible thing. It is palpable. You can hold it in your hands. You can see it in the air. You can breathe it and hold it and push that shit right back out of your lungs. When it dissolves, you might not see it, but that won't mean it wasn't there. Because you were."

This book was quite special, because while it was quite sad and dealt with heavy topics, at the same time it felt hopeful, especially towards the end. Our three narrators Cam, Kai and TJ have different voices which guide the reader throughout the story, exploring both the past and the present and how it all came to be. Death, grief, friendship, family and romantic relationships are the main topics, that are explored in this book through the eyes of three young men, just trying to figure out how to live their lives. I have to say, that I really enjoyed TJ's perspective and even though some of this behaviours seemed to be messy, I think that was the main reason why this character felt so real and raw. Cam was also quite prominent in this story and I loved how he evolved throughout the story, not only dealing with grief and problems that came when dealing with it, but also in his friendship with TJ. Kai's voice, in a way, felt like a connector to these two men and I was glad that his perspective on things was portrayed as well. I shouldn't also forget about food, which felt very relevant and sometimes felt like a metaphor for the words that were unsaid. I think this book is beautiful in its own way, because it talks about different races and cultures and the problems that occur due to these differences, which sometimes might not be very obvious to all.

Thank you to Atlantic Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

This book is sad and slightly hopeful at the same time. The writing might not be for everyone, and one has to be ready to submerge into it, but if done, it's really rewarding. Also: food.

I really enjoyed Family Meal. It's a sweeping story of gay love, desire, secrets and lies. It's about family of choice and how food can connect people. It centres around the relationship between TJ and Cam, 2 young gay men who grow up together and later drift apart. It deals with so many important issues; grief, relationships, what connects people and how those connections are tested and repaired if possible. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Lot by the same author as there are a few similarities in topic etc.
Thanks to Atlantic, Bryan Washington and Netgalley for the ARC.

I loved this book. Told from multiple viewpoints, it is a book about dysfunction and love, friendship and family, all of which are entwined and interchangeable here. It's poetic and beautiful, raw and real and I didn't want it to finish. I can't really put into words how affecting I found it. I'd already read Memorial and loved it, but I think this is better in every way. It's tighter and sparer but misses nothing. It made me think of Ocean Vuong's poetry as I read it.

What a treat! I'm a big admirer of Bryan Washington's work in general. It's profoundly moving in a positive manner. The book is all about sorrow, love, and the concept of families formed through connections beyond blood relations. In the tale, cooking acts as the glue that unites these families. At its core, the novel follows a man's journey to recover from overwhelming sadness after his partner's tragic passing. Go read it!

This was a DNF. I think it’s primarily the writing style and language that I’m just not loving. But I’m also struggling to connect to the characters. Perhaps my expectations were just too high going into it and I’m just struggling to see why he’s so revered as a writer.

Family Meal is about three men, Cam, TJ, and Kai, but only two of them can share their life stories because the third one is dead. And still, Kai is present in every move, on every page, in every sentence, and eventually tells his story too.

Bryan Washington wrote a raw book about grief, love, and (found) family. About finding a home. About the responsibility to take care of each other. About just trying to be, if life’s too tough. And of course about food.

After losing the love of his life, Cam doesn’t want to feel pain, so he dives into unprotected sex, drugs, not eating, and messing up others. Slowly he’s destroying himself.

I had to adjust myself in the first pages because Bryan wrote this book without quotation marks in the dialogues, and I actually hate books without them. I need punctuation for the overview and insight into the story, and I get lost without them. But I must admit that it fitted Family Meal, and it made this story even better—the rawness more grittier, the grief more sadder, the food more tasteful.

When I started reading, a knot knitted itself in my stomach and grew bigger and bigger, reaching my lungs so I almost couldn’t breathe anymore, scratching my heart until it was scarred so badly that it went from sore to unbearably painful. Not only because of Cam’s self-destruction but also because of how Kai died and because of TJ, who seemed steady as a rock but had his own sh*t to deal with.

Family Meal is not for the faint of heart. There’s lots of sex (not that graphic, though), lots of drug use, and lots of cheating. But there’s so much love too. Cam’s memory of that last day with Kai when he bought his boyfriend flowers—sunflowers because Kai loved them so much—was so sweet that my eyes clouded with tears. The moment TJ found Cam at the bayou in the rain made my heart hopeful. And at the end, I had to put my e-reader away several times because otherwise, I’d have sobbed uncontrollably. Not because the ending was sad but because of the beautiful love that shone through all the darkness from before. There’s a guy on the back porch holding a cat. And he’s just trying to be.

Love Bryan Washington's writing and his latest novel doesn't disappoint. A novel about grief, sex, food, finding family, chosen and otherwise, connecting, eating, weather, flowers and a strong sense of place - Houston. The author's style of fiction is a languid as his characters, who say little but connect in a beautiful ballet of food preparation, eating and physical touch. I loved the way that Cam and TJ are with each other, it is moving and robustly delicate. The author shows us how communities and families are formed through the lives of interesting characters that is so enjoyable. Fabulous writing.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved 'Memorial' and 'Lot' and really wanted to love 'Family Meal', too. Even though it's a good read, I didn't love it. Here's why.

Bryan Washington writes about life, largely amongst gay men, in Houston, Texas. He does this successfully, from one of the main characters' perspectives, Cam, to his boyfriend's, Kai, and TJ's, too. Essentially, Cam's parents died and he spent a lot of his life living with TJ and his family - there is definitely history between the two men, perhaps jealousy on TJ's part, but it is never fully explored. Washington manages to deal with issues surrounding race, such as the fact that TJ's father, Jin, was Korean and Kai has close links to Japan. Similar themes are evident in Washington's other books.

Viewpoints change - and even though I can see the merits of deciding to do this, I don't feel the switches always 'work'. Furthermore, images are positioned at different points in the book - I think these would be more impactful in a paper version, not an e-book.

I received a promotional video which was brilliantly created - and it really made me want to read 'Family Meal'. I was, perhaps, expecting more of an engaging family saga. I didn't really feel that Washington delivers regarding this. Observations are astute at times, although the book feels quite disjointed.

I know that other readers will love this - maybe it's just not for me!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

NO SPOILERS
If you loved Bryan Washington’s Memorial, as I did, you will love Family Meal. If you haven’t read either then do it now!

Family Meal is a brutal but beautifully written sympathetic, astute portrayal of the grief Cam feels at losing his parents and Kai, and the grief his friends and family feel at losing him as he was. And the grief we all experience at losing the status quo.

Washington’s writing, though complex and skilled, is effortless to read and set out in such a way that gives natural pauses for thought. Aspects of this book will stay with me for a long time.

Family Meal is a novel about queer friendship, loss, finding family, and food, as two childhood friends learn to be around each other as adults. Cam is struggling after the death of his boyfriend, Kai, and is back in his hometown, losing himself in sex and drugs. Meanwhile, TJ, Cam's childhood best friend whose parents took Cam in, knows Cam is back in town, but they circle one enough, wary after a sense of betrayal. As Cam sees Kai as he goes about his life and TJ looks for what he wants in his future, the two must find their friendship again in a new way.

This is a powerful book, filled with emotions, as well as exploring things like disordered eating and drug abuse. At its heart, it is about family and friendship and the need to find the right people around you, which isn't just one person, but a whole load of people. It is told from multiple perspectives, mostly Cam's for the start and TJ's later on, and this allows the book to explore intimacy in various ways and show the complexity of relationships. Possibly unusually for this kind of book, which isn't so much focused on a narrative but on characters, the ending did feel like a turning point and a good way to end it. There's some really compelling side characters as well, that help to show the idea of found family and that human relationships are not simple.

Family Meal is a strange book to describe, with a surprisingly low-key ghost element and a plot that is really centred around friendship and doing things for other people, and a lot of food throughout. Perhaps most notably for me, it leaves you with a sense that not everything has to be fixed by putting it back together the same way.