Last Night at the Telegraph Club

by

416 pages

English language

Published April 7, 2021 by Penguin Young Readers Group.

ISBN:
978-0-525-55525-4
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(7 reviews)

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.

5 editions

reviewed Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

A really good read.

This was a lovely coming-of-age story where a Chinese teen realizes she may be queer in a time where it is illegal for gays to gather together still. It was not a super fluffy book by any means, but also remained fairly light with everything that happened. I feel like this would be a good starting point for showing the hate that has always existed for those deemed lesser. Definitely one I would recommend.

reviewed Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Best book I've read this year

This is the story of 17-year old Lily Hu in 1950s San Francisco Chinatown and her slow and risky introduction into lesbianism. It's all embedded within real historical events, with so many references to things and places and events and people that actually existed (the Author's Note explains a lot of them - well-researched! and if you want to read up on them, there's even a bibliography list). I devoured this book with lots of joy. It's interesting and thrilling and capturing. Go read it!

reviewed Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

This is pretty cool

No rating

It is a story where bad things happen to the queers, but it's not a tragic story. Things go on, people can leave, and find each other again.

I'm often easily bored by historical fiction (idk why!) but this worked very well for me.

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