This took a while for me to get going. Some parts of it dragged out a bit too much. I also think the breaking up of chapter/sections by dates and following certain characters sometimes got a little confusing. That said, I really enjoyed this and though some of Lily’s family background didn’t add much to the story, IMHO, it didn’t hurt things.
“Last Night at the Telegraph Club” follows 17 year old Lily who starts to explore her sexuality in 1950s San Francisco.
I really have to say that Lily and Kath’s relationship definitely centers this book.
The writing was great as I said, but the flow gets a bit wonky at times because we keep jumping to see Lily’s relatives. I kept wondering if those sections were going to lead to something, but I didn’t see the purpose, someone let me know if I missed something. I really did love the entire Telegraph Club though and the patrons and people we see there. I could have read a whole book about them.
The setting of the book is 1950s San Francisco which was a dangerous time to be seen as lesbian or gay in the United States. Also being accused of being a Communist was a real fear in the Chinese American community. Anything that alluded to you not being a “real” American was enough sometimes for people to lose their jobs and homes.
Really enjoyed this and think that most young adults will enjoy though think that the jump from an incident to an epilogue (to find out what happened to said person) was a weird choice.
