Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (2021)

While A Scatter of Light is a standalone novel, it can be read as a companion piece to Lo’s earlier work, Last Night at the Telegraph Club. Lily Hu, its protagonist, is Aria’s distant cousin. As a teenager in 1950s San Francisco, Lily explores her sexuality while also dealing with the prevalent societal racism toward Chinese Americans. Lily comes across an ad for the titular Telegraph Club in the newspaper and then discovers that one of her classmates, Kath, has been to the nightclub. The story spans five months and includes an epilogue that takes place a year later as Lily and Kath navigate their relationship and the secrecy that the LGBTQ+ community must maintain in the mid-20th century.

• Last Night at the Telegraph Club on SuperSummary