Welcome to our our AAPI-themed Cannon Book Club discussion of Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club! In this National Book Award-winner, Malinda Lo challenges popular perceptions of the 1950s, including stereotypes about Chinese Americans, the invisibility of the lesbian and gay community, and the role of women in the space program, particularly as computers.
For those of you returning or who might be joining in for #CannonBookClub for the first time (hello new friends!) all are welcome, you don’t have to be registered for CBR14 to comment below. The topics are numbered, so please refer to them below by that number to help people find the conversations they are looking for; and only respond to one topic per comment to help keep things clear. If you are responding to someone else’s thoughts, please try to reply directly to that comment.
Even if you weren’t able to get your review written yet, don’t worry – all are welcome here in this post’s comments or our Social Media platform discussions, In our Facebook group, Cannonball Read Book Chat we’ll have some additional prompts so please join us there as well.
Registered participants in this year’s Cannonball Read 14 can join the #CannonBookClub Zoom on Saturday, May 21 at 1pm Eastern. Those Cannonballers should have already received connection details by email. (Contact us if you haven’t!) If you’re not registered, but would like to; please drop us a line to get signed up and receive the Zoom details.
Now, on to the questions!
- Malinda Lo interprets historical events and facts to create the bedrock of her story. What did you take away from this book that you might not have found by reading a history book?
- So much of LGBTQ+ history is about reading between the lines and understanding the meaning behind coded words and actions. As Lo built this into her narrative, how did it impact your reading experience?
- Have you read another story featuring queer characters in love that is not contemporary? Have you read another queer love story at all? What impact did that have on your enjoyment of the book?
- Who are the people in your own life that get you to look closely at yourself and the world around you? Were similar people represented in the characters of this book?
- Lo writes in one of her Notes from the Telegraph Club, “So much of discovering who you are involves seeing who other people are and asking yourself, consciously or subconsciously, am I like them?” How does Lo build this into Lily’s story?
- What stood out to you in the way Last Night at the Telegraph Club handles homophobia and anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes in addition to racism, xenophobia, and immigration?
- In some ways this is a story that focuses on the conflict between duty and desire. How did you feel about the balance by the end for our lead characters?
- I’ve got something to talk about that isn’t covered above, meet me in the comments!