Review – Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Release Date: January 19th, 2021

Genre(s): Young Adult, Historical Fiction, LGBT+

Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Pages: 416

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Last Night at the Telegraph Club takes place in 1950’s San Francisco, where Lily Hu and Kathleen Miller meet under the sign of the lesbian bar called The Telegraph Club. Despite Red-Scare paranoia and the threat of Lily’s father’s deportation, Lily and Kath risk everything for their love.

Review

This is a book that I’ve been seeing quite a bit on several blogs and Bookstagram lately, which ultimately influenced me to pick up this book while I was browsing at the bookstore. And while this was a bit of a random purchase, I am so glad I picked this one up. 

Last Night at the Telegraph Club manages to capture so many topics at once. To name a few, it showcases the LGBTQ+ history and the social life at the time, as well as the crackdowns on bars like the Telegraph Club and the right to assembly. This book also shows the discovery of one’s identity through Lily’s perspective, as well as the perspectives and perceptions of many other characters. Finally, this story covers life as an immigrant in America, especially a Chinese immigrant, and the histories of China and America at the time as well as the impacts of the Red Scare on Asian Americans. 

While there were certain aspects of history that the synopsis led me to believe would be covered more than others, I’m surprised at how many topics this book covered in such detail. And from the beginning, Last Night at the Telegraph Club had me hooked by all of these details. I absolutely loved Lo’s writing style in this book and look forward to reading more of her work. This was the kind of book where I wanted to keep reading, but I also didn’t want the book to end. And while I can see wanting more of certain scenes regarding the influences of the Red Scare as described in the synopsis, a book that reads like this one and has me this immersed is an automatic five-star from me. 

And although I don’t relate to the main character’s identity as a Chinese American woman, there was so much I could relate to when Lily was exploring and coming to terms with her identity. And while things are different now compared to what they were then, being so close to Lily’s thoughts and the process of finding her identity felt so incredibly familiar, and I think a lot of readers will be able to identify with so many aspects of this book as well despite the time difference. 

Last Night at the Telegraph Club was an incredible book that I highly recommend. Lo captures so much in this book and it is truly an engaging read from start to finish. I’d especially recommend this book to those that don’t read historical fiction as often – definitely give this one a try!

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