Book Review: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Published on January 19, 2021 by Dutton Books for Young Readers

Intended Audience: YA

Pages: 416

Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+

Diversity/Representation: Chinese-American & lesbian main character, f/f romance

Content Warnings: racism, homophobia

Synopsis

Acclaimed author of Ash Malinda Lo returns with her most personal and ambitious novel yet, a gripping story of love and duty set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the Red Scare.

“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.” And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Review (minor spoilers)

If you’re looking for a beautiful coming of age, sapphic romance that explores the intersections of race and sexuality, you need to read Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Lily was such a relatable character with big dreams and believable struggles. I loved the portrayal of her journey discovering and embracing her sexuality while balancing her Chinese-American identity.

Setting

I love historical fiction, especially when it’s from a perspective that is often overlooked. Throughout the book, Lily inhabits two worlds. In the world of her Chinatown neighborhood she is a good Chinese-American daughter who must stay out of trouble to deflect racist suspicions against her family during the Red-Scare. In the midnight world of the Telegraph Club she is able to explore her sexuality and her feelings for Kath. Both of these parts of Lily’s world were well developed and it was equal parts painful and beautiful to watch them collide. I felt Lily’s love and conflicted feelings for Chinatown, her family, and her fellow Chinese-American friends as well as her apprehension and excitement as she continued to return to the Telegraph Club and developed her relationship with Kath.

I also appreciated the way the intersectionality of race and sexuality were portrayed. For example, showing that even the world of the Telegraph Club was not immune to the pervasive racial stereotypes Asian-Americans faced at the time.

Characters and relationships

Lily was such a relatable protagonist who was easy to empathize with and root for. I loved that her interest in space and pursuing a STEM career was a constant throughout the novel. I also loved that her aunt served as a positive female role model and supportive figure as the story progressed. Lily’s internal thoughts as she questioned and learned to embrace her sexuality and her conflicted feelings about her family and friends (particularly Shirley) felt very authentic.

Kath wasn’t quite as well developed but I loved that she had her own hopes and dreams. The way she and Lily genuinely supported each other’s interests made me love their relationship even more. I love when characters who have known each other for years develop a genuine friendship that slowly grows into something more, which is precisely what happened here. And oh my goodness, the pining. I am here for it. This is truly my favorite type of romance.

Although I hated Shirley for most of the book because she reminded me of a toxic friend from my own high school years, I appreciated the way her character was developed because it gave more depth to Lily’s relationship with her community, especially when she and Lily discuss the way she feels trapped by Chinatown and the limited opportunities for Chinese-Americans while also feeling protective of her culture.

The scenes with Lily’s family, particularly their reaction when they learned about her sexuality and her visits to the Telegraph Club were painful to read, but extremely important and I felt so much empathy for Lily while reading these passages.

Pacing

The pacing was on the slow side, which I felt was perfect for this story. It allowed us to savor the dream-like feeling of Lily and Kath’s time at the Telegraph Club. It also added to the slow-burn aspect and allowed time for relationships and other events to unfold in a natural way.

Plot

As much as I love this book, there are a few things in the plot that I wish were dealt with in more detail. Although the historical setting was the perfect backdrop for this story, and the prevailing racism against Chinese-Americans was apparent, the stakes didn’t feel as high as they should have been. We were told of the possibility that Lily’s father and perhaps their entire family could be imprisoned or deported on suspicion of sympathizing with the communist movement, but it wasn’t developed in a way that it seemed like a true threat. Some things, such as the issue of Lily’s father’s immigration papers which were taken by the government and the side plot about the Chinatown teenagers who were suspected of being communist sympathizers were never fully fleshed out.

Other things I loved

• The idea of Lily stopping by the store each day to secretly read the lesbian romance novel because she knew she could never be seen buying it.
• The way Chinese language was included – I liked that the Lo used the actual Chinese characters were used rather than the romanized spellings because it added to the feeling of Lily being both Chinese and American. As someone who does not read Chinese though, I appreciated the translations in the footnotes.
• The timeline was a wonderful inclusion throughout and I especially appreciated the way it was used to give closure at the end.
• The historical notes added even more nuance to the story and I absolutely loved reading them. As an academic at heart, I immediately looked into a few of the sources listed in the bibliography and will probably continue to go down that research rabbit hole as time goes on.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐