Chapter summaries Last Night at the Telegraph Club Malinda Lo

Chapter 10 Summary: The Communist Pamphlet and the Dance Committee

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

While looking for a career-report topic in Miss Weiland’s classroom, Lily discovers a pamphlet titled “100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the U.S.A.” hidden among government job brochures. She hides it beneath her notebook. Shirley announces that Louisa Ramirez has dropped out of the dance committee, and Lily impulsively volunteers to fill in—a move that gives her an excuse to avoid being Will’s date. At lunch, Lily and Shirley talk privately. Lily asks about Calvin and the Man Ts’ing; Shirley reveals her parents warned her about deportation risks and she knows the government uses Communism as a pretext. Shirley also sees through Lily’s volunteer excuse, saying she wouldn’t have forced her to go to the dance with Will. That night, Lily reads the pamphlet in bed. The answers depict Communism as ruthless, but question ninety-five—“What is Communism’s greatest strength?”—strikes her as inspirational: “Its secret appeal to the lust for power.” The words secret, lust, natural, and try linger in her mind. She decides to invite Kath to Thrifty Drugs to show her a novel.

Key Events

  • Lily finds a Communist pamphlet in the filing cabinet and hides it.
  • She volunteers for the dance committee after learning Louisa Ramirez quit.
  • Shirley and Lily discuss Calvin, the Man Ts’ing, and government deportation threats.
  • Shirley hints that she knows Lily volunteered to avoid Will.
  • Lily reads the pamphlet alone in her room, pausing at question 95.
  • She resolves to invite Kath to Thrifty Drugs to share a novel.

Character Development

  • Lily Hu grows more aware of the Red Scare’s reach and its impact on her family. Her internal shift from fear to curiosity is shown by her fascination with the pamphlet’s answer to question 95, which she finds “perversely inspirational.” She also takes a small, calculated risk by volunteering for the dance committee to manage her social life.
  • Shirley emerges as more perceptive than Lily expected. She not only understands Lily’s avoidance of Will but also shows a nuanced grasp of the political dangers facing Chinese Americans. Her warning about camps echoes the real history of Japanese American incarceration.
  • Will and Calvin remain offstage but are discussed; the chapter deepens the mystery of their involvement with Communist-adjacent groups.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Surveillance and secrecy: The pamphlet itself is a hidden object, and Lily’s conversation with Shirley is conducted in whispers behind a pillar. The theme of being watched by the government (the FBI, immigration authorities) runs through the whole discussion.
  • The lure of transgression: The pamphlet’s language (“secret appeal,” “lust for power”) mirrors Lily’s own hidden desires—for Kath, for the Telegraph Club, for a life outside family and community expectations.
  • Performance and disguise: Lily’s volunteer role on the dance committee is a tactical performance. She uses a public, acceptable activity to conceal her true motive (avoiding Will) and to create space for her private explorations.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 10 marks a turning point in Lily’s quiet rebellion. She moves from passive observation to active decision-making: she volunteers for the committee, she initiates a risky conversation about Calvin, and she plans to share the novel with Kath. The pamphlet’s answer to question 95 gives her a vocabulary for her own “natural urge” to try something forbidden. The chapter also cements the real-world stakes of the Red Scare for Chinese American families, showing that deportation is not an abstract threat but a fear Shirley’s parents explicitly raised.

Study Questions and Answers

  1. Why does Lily volunteer for the dance committee? Lily volunteers partly to fill in for Louisa but mainly to create a credible reason to avoid going to the Spook-A-Rama dance as Will’s date. Shirley recognizes this motive and tells Lily she wouldn’t have forced her to go.

  2. What is Shirley’s understanding of the government’s actions against the Man Ts’ing? Shirley reveals that her parents warned her that the government could put Chinese Americans in camps, just as it did Japanese Americans during the war, if they are suspected of being Communists. She knows the charges are used as “an excuse to deport us.”

  3. Why does the pamphlet’s answer to question 95 affect Lily so strongly? The answer claims Communism’s greatest strength is “its secret appeal to the lust for power” and states that “Communism invites them to try.” Lily finds this “perversely inspirational” because the words secret, lust, natural, and try resonate with her own hidden desires and her longing to explore forbidden attractions—including her feelings for Kath and her curiosity about the Telegraph Club.

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