#17: Last Night at the Telegraph Club
"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?"
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Malinda Lo
Year Published: 2021
Pages: 394
Genres: YA fiction, historical fiction, LGBTQ fiction, romance
Topics: First love, sexual awakening, LGBTQ relationships, 1950s America, racism
Recognition
Summary
To all appearances, seventeen-year-old Lily Hu is a typical 1950s "good Chinese girl." Her father is a respected doctor in San Francisco's Chinatown. She does well in school, goes to church, and volunteers on school committees. But Lily also has feelings she doesn't understand and is afraid to acknowledge. She's drawn to a photograph of a "male impersonator" she sees in the newspaper, and she makes repeated visits to the drug store to covertly read a cheap paperback full of intimate scenes between two women.
A chance encounter leads Lily to start spending more time with Kathleen Miller, a classmate who shares Lily's interest in science and math and knows of the male impersonator she can't stop thinking about. Lily wonders if Kath might also experience the same inexplicable feelings she experiences. When Lily shows her the novel, Kath tells her about a place called the Telegraph Club, where women are couples and male impersonators perform.
This new world is both a shock and a promise to Lily, who suddenly realizes that she might not be alone, and that maybe she wants to be more than just friends with Kath. But it's not a safe time for many people in America: Lily's father has had his citizenship papers taken by the FBI for refusing to accuse one of his patients of being a Communist. And as Lily becomes more entranced by the life she sees at the Telegraph Club, she unwittingly puts herself and Kath in danger.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Me
One of my main strategies in finding adolescent literature books for this project was to look through winners and nominees of major literary awards, and few have won or been nominated for as many as Last Night at the Telegraph Club. The long row of medals on the novel's cover was what initially grabbed my attention. And I thought the synopsis sounded interesting, so I added it to my list.
From a literary standpoint, I think Last Night at the Telegraph Club is one of the better YA novels I've read this year, maybe the best. Lo's characterization of Lily's gradual understanding and acceptance of her feelings toward women is moving and understated, and she has an eye for detail that brings the text to life to a greater degree than many other authors I've read this year.
I've enjoyed the historical fiction YA novels that I've read this year, especially Last Night at the Telegraph Club. I think providing students with a window into the lives of teenagers of other eras can be a useful way for them to explore and understand their own identities. I'm interested in exploring this genre more to get a better sense of it.
Teaching Considerations
Young Adult: At seventeen and nearing high school graduation, Lily is squarely in the young adult protagonist demographic. I think high school-age kids (15-18 or so) generally would be the target age range for this novel.
Whole Class, Small Group, or Individual Read: I think the quality of Lo's writing and her skill in realizing teenage feelings of love and awakening would make Last Night at the Telegraph Club an effective whole class read, although its sexual content might make it more appropriate for the upper grades. Otherwise, it would be a great small group or individual read for any student interested in LGBTQ issues, America in the 1950s, or a general exploration of identity issues.
1950s Period Study: The Red Scare is an important backdrop for the plot of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, and legal and societal attitudes toward LGBTQ people are a major influence on the characters and their choices. This novel could accompany a study of 1950s America, including McCarthyism, the Red Scare, and various forms of prejudice and bigotry.
Sensitive Content: Last Night at the Telegraph Club contains two scenes of sexual activity, one very brief and one longer and more explicit. Aside from the racial profiling of the FBI, the racism in the novel comes mostly in the form of microaggressions.
Read-Aloud Passages
- The door to the bathroom opened, and someone entered the stall next to hers. ... Kathleen turned back with a surprised smile. "Sure." (pp. 53-56)
- After an embarrassing interaction with a boy, Lily hides in a bathroom stall, where an accident with her backpack leads Kath to discover Lily's interest in the male impersonator Tommie Andrews. It's a key moment in the development of their relationship, filled with emotional tension and setting up much of the story to come.
- Lost in thought, Lily barely noticed when she reached Clay Street. ... She looked up at her mother and said, "I will." (pp. 64-70)
- Lily comes home from school to find out that her father was interrogated by the FBI about her possible association with an organization they suspect of having Communist ties. When he refuses to give them private information on one of his patients, they take away his citizenship papers. This is a long passage, so it might be best to just read a section of it, but I include it because it provides important context for the story and illustrates the kind of fear and prejudice that many Chinese Americans faced during the Red Scare.
Liked Last Night at the Telegraph Club? Try These:
- The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes (2022)
- Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick (2023)
- Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian (2023)
Comments
Post a Comment