“A story of love and duty set in San Francisco's Chinatown during the Red Scare.
“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.” And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.
America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.” - taken from Goodreads.com
I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into what it was like to be a Chinese American teenager in San Francisco in the mid-1950s. Lily, a high school senior, dreams of going to college and working for the Jet Propulsion Lab, just like her aunt. It wasn't until she gets to know Kath, the other girl in her advanced math class, does Lily begin to question her sexuality.
A lot of world-building, family back story, and historical details make this book extremely slow in the beginning but once Lilly is seen leaving a lesbian bar, the story really picks up. Unfortunately, that was only the last 20% of the story. Not a happily-ever-after ending, but Lilly does remain true to herself
Visit Malinda Lo’s website.
No comments:
Post a Comment