A Scatter of Light: from the author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Malinda Lo
Award-winning author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful coming-of-queer-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage. And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Lo's new novel also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath's lives since 1955. Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha's Vineyard with her best friends—one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria's parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother's gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable—for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It's the kind of summer that changes a life forever.
Publication Year: 2022
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~~Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me a copy for exchange for an honest review!~~
This book is very different than Last Night at the Telegraph Club, but I still very much adored it, all the same. The writing is still eloquent and breath-taking, and Aria, while different than Lily, is still a very compelling character. Her struggles with coming to terms with her sexuality in a ill-fated relationship was really gut-punching but expected, considering the circumstances around her and Steph's romance. I especially loved the one to two page chapters; those were the ones that packed the most emotional punches.
I really loved how coming-of-age was the primary focus rather than the romance, because it took time to explore Aria's relationships with her family, from Joan to her distant mother, bodily autonomy and how easily it's ripped away from young women, the struggles of being biracial, a lot is touched upon but it's all done beautifully. I didn't cry, but I still got very emotional, especially towards the end.
I cannot wait for the hardbacks to come out so I can finally place this book next to her sister on my shelf.
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