Last Night at the Telegraph Club: A Look into LGBTQ+ History - Jacque

Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a historical LGBTQ+ romance novel following a young Chinese-American girl in Chinatown in 1954 who’s name is Lily Hu. Not only is it a romance novel, it goes into detail about the mistreatment of Chinese people by the United States government during the Red Scare and the Cold War.     In the book, Lily finds an ad for a male impersonator and is immediately intrigued. Male impersonators were young women were often openly queer and dressed up in suits and tuxedos to sing songs with lyrics about being in love with a woman. They are also called drag kings today. They were unable to share their love for women with others as a woman in the 1960s so they dressed up as men to do it.     Lily finding this ad starts a wstruggle within her. She's intrigued by these male impersonators at the Tlegraph Club. The Telegraph Club is a place her parents warned her to never go near, it's a covertly lesbian bar. Her parents have warned her about the types of women who go there, and Lily knows her parents would never approve of her interest in male impersonators, let alone her going to the Telegraph Club. But- she can't stop thinking about it and it only grows when Kathleen Miller from school sees her looking at the ad and invites her to the Telegraph Club to have a look. Lily must struggle with her sexuality and keep it a secret, all while struggling with the threat of deportation by the U.S. government.     I would recommened this book. It's a well-researched look into life as youn g Chinese-American Lesbian during the 1950s, a time where lesbian and gay bars are constantly being raided by the police and the U.S. is starting to crack down on communism and review the citizenship of Chinese-American people. The author includes not only her experiences as an LGBTQ+ Chinese person as well as experiences from older lesbians who had the strength to live as who they are during a time when being them was illegal.     It's a really compelling book. I love LGBTQ+ history and queer romance books so it was a good choice for me. Personally, I would give it a 7/10. It's slow in some parts and may be hard to get through if you're one of those people who love having action and plot progression at all times. I didn't have that hard of a time getting through it but there were times when I just wanted to hurry up and get to the main plot of the book. If you're fine with that and are looking for a new book to read, this might be the book for you!