Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang

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: a theatre 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 movie 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.
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"Moving...Part ghost story, part love story, and part tale of hardscrabble immigrant life, this intricately plotted novel asks whether, in the end, it is better to forgive or to forget." --The New Yorker
 
"This tender, elegant debut follows gay men and their wives from pickups at a 1980s Mawei movie theater to loss and longing in NYC's Chinatown." --Vanity Fair
 
"Cinema Love is a gripping narrative with sharply drawn characters . . . A beautiful meditation on love, loss, and the haunting power of the past." --New York Journal of Books
 
"The pages crackle with the tension of a Hollywood thriller.... an enticing, engaging read." --The Times