Full disclosure: My reading tastes tend more towards urban fantasy and quirky realistic fiction. I picked this book up because Malinda Lo's "Ash" has long been one of my favorite fairy tale retellings. "The Telegraph Club"'s prose style is lyrical and reflective, lingering on little world-building details that highlight Chinatown and the queer scene in 1950s San Francisco.

That difference in style means that, rather than fly through the book like I normally would for favorites, I found myself reading more slowly to fully absorb a setting that to me, a white queer woman of the 2000s, felt more foreign than a fantasy. There simply are not YA books out there about the Red Scare, let alone with intersectional immigration and sexual identity politics. I felt like I learned a ton about the era, and it was all grounded in Lily's personal story of self-discovery.

The content and style reminds me of "The Glass Castle" and "The Kite Runner," while the characterization of San Francisco feels very "Tales of the City." The prose felt a little stilted at times, Lily's inner thoughts careful and methodical. Overall, not my usual preference but definitely worth the read.

I really enjoy books with alternating chapter voice - it makes me feel like I have a deeper connection to the characters and the story. This book will definitely find a place in the hearts of many high school students. The story provides a view of life from the not too distant past that many may not have realized, known or thought about. This is a rich, engaging and memorable read AND so much more! Thank NetGalley for an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Set in San Francisco's Chinatown in the 1950s, this book follows Lily, an Chinese American teenage girl, as she goes to high school, plans for a future where she'll hopefully work for JPL, and dealing with feelings towards other girls that she doesn't fully understand.

Just like so many teenagers, Lily doesn't quite feel like she fits in. She's interested in majoring in math college and working at JPL when she graduates from college. She's one of only two girls in the advanced math classes in her high school. She's Chinese American, and sometimes feel like that makes her not fit in with some of her peers at school as well. She's not interested in any boys, despite her best friend Shirley's attempts to set her up with one of their classmates. She's attracted to certain women, including her classmate Kath, but she doesn't understand this attraction, and deep down feels like she needs to hide these feelings, until one day she and Kath actually start getting to know each other. Lily not only has to deal with the fear of her family discovering her feelings for Kath, but also the fear of her family being accused of being Communists and her father being deported because his immigration papers were confiscated when he wouldn't accuse another Chinese American young man of being a Communist.

There are occasional flashbacks as well to Lily's parents when they are younger.

Post war era life in San Francisco community Chinatown. Friends navigate the expectations of culture, high school, and the LBGTQ+ community underground. Includes historical and family flashbacks to earlier times and hisotorical events.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is an endearing story of life in 1950s Chinatown in San Francisco for a girl who dreams of going to space...and possibly kissing other girls. Lo brings Chinatown to life, both the loving community, and the small town feeling where anyone could be watching you at any moment and tell your parent what they saw you doing. The stakes are not all family drama though - there are real concerns about citizenship, racism, and homophobia. Lo manages to keep those stakes high while still giving our heroine a believable and hopeful happy ending.
The passages with flashbacks from Lily's parents and aunt felt a little jarring at first. While they were a nice way to glimpse into the family history more, it was Lily's story that was really the heart and driving force of the book. The love story, and the story of self-discovery within it, is so heartwarming. I wish we had more historical fiction that told stories like this, and were as well-researched as this.
I have been waiting years to read this book, and it was absolutely worth the wait.

Malinda Lo's much needed entry into young adult historical fiction centers on San Francisco high school student Lily Hu. Set during the 1950s in Chinatown and the surrounding neighborhoods, Lily balances cultural and familial expectations with her passion for science fiction and mathematics, her sexual identity and an important new relationship. Lo incorporates fascinating details of mid-20th century queer life, including male impersonator clubs (the titular Telegraph Club), alongside the very real risk of police raids and arrest, and the lived experiences of Chinese-Americans in the United States. The alternating chapters provide insights into the lives and motivations of Lily’s parents and aunt in the years years prior to the story’s beginning. Lo balances tensions with hope, resulting in a satisfying narrative arc for Lily. Recommended reading for fans of LGBTQ+ history and for readers who appreciate a more inclusive history of the United States.

*This review is based on a pre-publication edition of “Last Night at the Telegraph Club”. Expected publication date: January 2021.

As a middle school teacher, this book is not at all appropriate for my classroom. Here is the review for Goodreads, though:

I can not remember the last time I stayed up to finish a book. I’m writing this review at 2:30 am because this book was OUTSTANDING. I’ve loved Malinda Lo since reading Ash when it first came out. I hate to say it, but Last Night at the Telegraph Club might be her best book?!?!?!

I found Lily’s story riveting, and the history was so rich that this book was totally immersive. I can not recommend this book enough. Read it.

I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

I loved every moment of this book. It was the kind of book that I wanted to extend, wanted to spend several days reading so it wouldn't be over, but I found myself staying up late to finish it because I was so swept up in the writing and the characters.

Lily is a Chinese-American teenager growing up in the 1950s in San Francisco's Chinatown. She sees an ad for Tommy Andrews, a male impersonator, and is desperately drawn to it. With Kath, a new friend, she sneaks out to go to the Telegraph Club, where Tommy Andrews is performing. Lily has always been "a good Chinese girl" but she keeps sneaking out, because is drawn to Tommy, to the Telegraph Club and the openness of the women who attend, and, most strongly, to Kath.

Lily is such an amazing character. She grows so much during the course of this book. I want to keep writing about her and her journey but don't want to include any spoilers, so I'll leave it at that.

I also really appreciated the extended author's note at the end which describes the historical context behind some of the things happening in this book (Communism, China, police raids on gay clubs, etc) as well as Malinda Lo's reasons for telling this story. I could tell this book was very well researched; that showed in both the writing and in the author's note. Highly recommend this book for both teens and adults.