Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Last Night at the Telegraph Club

It was really clear how lovingly researched this book is. I found it hard to read and hard to see Lily struggling in a society that is not accepting of her. The novel does a good job of showing how stuck she is between racism and homophobia. I liked that there is as happy an ending as is viable for the time period. It was interesting seeing the ways in which gender and race were different in the 1950s.

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meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I see why this is so popular. I think if I found this at the right time it would have been absurdly impact, but even as an adult I quite enjoyed it.

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sugarcainn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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pantslint's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I don't often read historical fiction, but a close friend gifted this book to me and boy am I glad she did.

This book made me cry. It made me do further reading, too. I knew about the insanity of McCarthyism and COINTELPRO from schooling, but didn't know the extent of the effects that the Red Scare had on the Chinese-American community (which aren't surprising, honestly). I didn't know about Dr. Hsue-shen Tsien. Or about the Chinese Confession Program. Or how the Chinese Exclusion Act meant that Chinese immigrants and Chinese-American communities were largely men.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a beautiful coming of age story, and also a diaspora story. It encompasses a lot of what I feel for my own immigrant parents—compassion for the difficulties they've endured and the trauma they harbor, and yet anger for their refusal to see outside of themselves and their community's perceptions. I have so much to say about this book, but I think that's all I can manage for this first read.

All I have to say left is that I have a personal vendetta against Shirley.

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maecave15's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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mortiffa's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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