Cinema Love

Winner of the Los Angeles Times' Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

Winner of the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction

Winner of the Ferro-Grumley award for LGBTQ Fiction

Finalist for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction

Longlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

A stunning and compelling novel for fans of PACHINKO, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, and SHUGGIE BAIN

'The pages crackle with the tension of a Hollywood thriller . . . an enticing, engaging read' The Times

Cinema Love is not just an extraordinary debut but a future classic' Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers

For over thirty years, Old Second and Bao Mei have cobbled together a meagre existence in New York City's Chinatown. But unlike other couples, these two share an unusual past. In rural Fuzhou, before they emigrated, they frequented the Workers' Cinema, where gay men cruised for love.

While classic war films played, Old Second and his fellow countrymen found intimacy in the privacy of the Workers' Cinema's screening rooms. Elsewhere, in the box office, Bao Mei sold tickets to closeted men—guarding their privacy and finding her own happiness with the projectionist. But when their secrets are unveiled, they set in motion a series of haunting events that propel Old Second and Bao Mei towards an uncertain future in America.

Spanning three timelines—post-socialist China, 1980s Chinatown, and contemporary New York—Cinema Love is a tender epic about men and women who find themselves in forbidden and frustrated relationships as they grapple with the past and their unspoken desires.

'An ambitious and promising debut' Irish Times

'I loved it. Cinema Love fizzes with energy. The characters are rich and warm and the prose is perfect. Jiaming Tang is a remarkable new voice' Fiona Mozley, author of Booker-shortlisted Elmet

'A tender and enrapturing feat of storytelling' Vanessa Chan, author of The Storm We Made