An incredibly well researched queer historical fiction set in 1950s San Francisco
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. The Red-Scare threatens the people of Chinatown but Lily and Kath are willing to risk it all to see where their relationship will go.
🎂 Coming of Age 😭 Emotional 💪 Feminist 🧭 Immigrant Experience
- Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Book Review
compelling, painful, emotional, sweet, validating, well researched, well-executed
Last night at the Telegraph Club was a harder read than I anticipated. I knew this wasn’t going to be a light and fluffy book, but I didn’t anticipate how much racism and prejudice would affect me while reading it. Malinda Lo did such a good job really placing the characters in this time period. You could tell just how well researched every little bit of this story was, it was definitely a beautiful novel!
Lily Hu can’t remember when it started, but the question takes firm root within her when Kathleen Miller walks into her life and takes her to the lesbian bar the Telegraph Club. But in 1950’s America is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love. How much are Lily and Kath willing to risk to see where their love can take them?
I hesitate to say this was my favorite part about this book, because it literally made me nauseous, but it was just done so well. The way that the microaggressions and macroaggressions were thrown in literally made my stomach churn. It hit so close to home that it made me incredibly uncomfortable at times. Malinda Lo really nailed it. Microaggressions that come from well-intentioned people, but still end up being racist are the ones that hit me the most, and this book is full of them. And they are done so well. The fact that I had to take a break from this book because it was just hitting too hard is truly wild to me.
I also absolutely loved how well researched it was for the time period it was set in. There are so many Asian American moments that America just seems to erase from our narrative, but this book doesn’t allow you to forget. It discusses the Red Scare and how that affected Chinese-Americans. It mentions the Japanese Internment camps that we often skim over in history. It talks about the Chinese Exclusion Act, something I personally never learned about in school at all. It really brings to the forefront so many important aspects of Asian American history but integrates them so well into the story of Lily and Kath. The entire time I was impressed. I had to take a break from this book because it was just so immersive of the time. So many of these terrifying things that the country has done that have affected Asian Americans so negatively were seamlessly integrated into the story. The more I think about it the more impressed I am!
Last Night at the Telegraph Club was incredibly well researched. If you’re reading this book, I highly recommend reading the author’s note at the end. (I always recommend you read those anyway, they’re so good and really add to my experience!) You will be able to see how much Malinda Lo put into this book, and it shows. Every little moment represents something, and I almost want to go back and reread this book to make sure I catch all of it. The historical research is just stunning.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club is an incredible and well-researched novel. I am so impressed with how well integrated the historical accuracies were written into this story. It felt so real and I learned so much about the time period. Hooray for more historical fiction with Asian characters! We existed then and we exist now.
Book Club Questions
How did the timeline sections of the book add or detract from the story for you? Did it feel like an interruption in the narrative or an addition to add historical check points to your reading?
- How well was Malinda Lo able to incorporate historical events into the narrative? Were you able to feel the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Red Scare and the recent Japanese Internment Camps and more through the eyes of the characters?
- Did you feel the familial differences within the Chinese community in the book? Could you feel the differences in family pressure between Lily and Shirley?
- Read the authors note together and see if it sparks any extra conversation!
