Winner of the Los Angeles Times' Art Seidenbaum Award for First FictionWinner 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 MothersFor 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 secrets and finding her own happiness with the projectionist. But when 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 Industry Reviews
Lush, romantic, daring, and filled with indelible characters,
Cinema Love is not just an extraordinary debut, but a future classic. In this story of forbidden queer love and the cost of secrets, Jiaming Tang gives voice, humanity, and dignity to people so often rendered invisible by society. Here, Chinese laborers, factory workers, seamstresses, nail technicians, and cooks take glorious center stage, their lives and deepest yearnings made epic.
I absolutely loved this book and couldn't stop reading - The School for Good Mothers
Cinema Love grasps you tightly in the heart, then does not let go.
A tender and enrapturing feat of storytelling, this novel unwraps the brightest and darkest moments of queer love and all its humanity. The stories of the men and women in this book swallowed me whole, and I will never forget them
A staggering feat of storytelling, epic in its reach yet so intimate and nuanced in its ability to break the heart of its reader. Tang honours the many stripes of his characters' journeys with forensic clarity, compassion and authenticity
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
