Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda LoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was an amazing queer historical romance with a Chinese-American main character set in 1950s San Francisco during the Red Scare. It was refreshing to have a queer romance with an Asian main character. I feel like we’re just starting to get more and more popularly marketed books with diverse queer characters. A lot of the popular ones in the last several years have been mainly caucasian focused. Don’t worry our main character is very much into a white female so that market is still there.
One of the things I loved about this book was following a young woman in her formative years and reading about her self-discovery in sexuality. It’s not easy to do in our current times so I love to read stories where people got to do it over 60 years ago. I love reading about characters who find ways to be their authentic selves and getting to read how that happens for Lily is what I connected to most in this book. That and her figuring out her crush on the girl who helped Lily figure out her sexuality.
I just wish it didn’t take us so long to get to that point. The frustrating portion of the story dragged a little bit while the exciting parts flashed by. That’s my main reason for not giving this story five stars. The pacing was just a little off for me. That and the flashbacks could’ve been done better. I understood they were written in a way to match up to Lily’s current time but it was hard to follow those inserts when they weren’t chronological. I did appreciate what those flashbacks added to the story though.
The author did an amazing job capturing the Chinese-American experience in the 1950s. As much as I cringed at how some characters talked to Lily or treated Lily, I know that’s how the world was for them in those days. I could feel the fear through the pages when Lily and her family discussed the Red Scare and worrying about how any minor actions could deport them. I’m just thankful the world has gotten a little better over the years. But, I do wish there was more acceptance and empathy than we currently see in America today.
I definitely recommend this book! This is a great diverse queer read and I’m glad I finally got a chance to read it myself. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work especially if I get more women loving women romances.
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