Love from the Pink Palace: Memories of Love, Loss and Cabaret through the AIDS Crisis, for fans of IT'S A SIN

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In particular, one of Jill’s fallen friends tried everything to survive until they were drugs available to control the HIV virus – they very sadly did not but did inspire others to fight on. s as explored through three close friends', as the lives of three close friends of Jill Nalder are shared in the book, along with a few more distant friendships, mark the progress that doctors and hospitals make in managing the medication and emotional support of young men with A. The frequent mention of so many show tunes and musicals through out the book could have been the lyrics of a list song to me. The author is a talented heterosexual woman whose talent for writing songs, singing and performing for the public put her in contact with a society of selectively extrovert gay men and drag artists who wanted nothing more in life than to be on the stage, men who wanted to live their whole lives to be part of a distinctly extrovert, well performed, stagecraft.

Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. I don’t think I realised at the time due to my age and not being part of the communities worse affected the appalling treatment of the victims of the aids crisis. An important period of world history where the human stories often get lost in the headlines from the time. As the author notes, a new caseload for doctors requires the renewing of their bedside manner, and adaptation in other ways too.The work and time that went into raising the money and awareness around hiv and aids while wrapped in the middle of nursing and losing your friends and continuing to work in a highly demanding run of cabaret and theatre tours is awe inspiring and will never be forgotten. With her band of best friends - of which many were young, talented gay men with big dreams of their own - she grabbed London by the horns: partying with drag queens at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, hosting cabarets at her glamorous flat, flitting across town to one gig after another. But the inability to suppress same sex desire is more complex than either parent or young man can understand, but the young men at least try to understand-and create a model that other young men in less open circumstances may try to adapt. The tender anecdotes and conversations, the dignity and love, the human contact and sense of family are poignant and in reading this book had me laughing out loud one minute and in tears the next. With her band of best friends - of which many were young, talented gay men with big dreams of their own - she grabbed London by the horns: partying with drag queens at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, hosting cabarets at her glamorous flat, flitting across town to any jobs she could get.

Perhaps this hits harder if you're already familiar with the author and It's a Sin, neither of which I'd even heard of. They could recognise throughout human history sex had been the cause for so much rumour, denial, anger, shame, and secrecy etc, treachery even. Like a book I read previously and reviewed here, by a different author, I came to this book via BBC radio. But what starts a a CV becomes the main part of the book when the show 'Les Miserable' becomes almost a character in itself, the yin to the yang of the A.

I also think this is a very ‘positive’ take, with a lot of the more negative aspects like reactions from family etc barely described or not explored in any depth. For fans of channel four’s ‘It’s a sin’ this is a must read…the book is very different to the show and is heartbreaking, funny, enlightening and shocking.

But soon rumours were spreading from America about a frightening illness being dubbed the 'gay flu', and Jill and her friends - spirited Juan Pablo, Jae with his beautiful voice, upbeat Dursley, and many others - found their formerly carefree existence now under threat. It is hard to put yourself in the position of Jill or her many friends at the time, but it was life - ups and downs. It probably also helps if you're really passionate about theatre, because there's a big emphasis on the London theatre scene in the 80s.It is also an informative and educational read for those of us who want to continue to support the cause and are aware that this fight is not over.

The suffering and the help that others tried to provide laid out in full technicolour, cabaret, theatre, shows, hospitals, etc. Many very funny stories do not make the It’s A Sin script because they are even too graphic for Channel 4. I laughed and cried like a baby, and was transported back to a time of innocence, clouded by the enormity of the harsh reality . Every chapter made you think about how hard it must have been for all those poor men who not only had to deal with coming out in a very unforgiving world, but to also tell their family and friends that they were dying of AIDS. With her band of best friends – of which many were young, talented gay men with big dreams of their own – she grabbed London by the horns: partying with drag queens at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, hosting cabarets at her glamorous flat, flitting across town to any jobs she could get.

As 'mother hen' she relays very well the disappointment of the young gay men who don't know how to respond to their parents' disappointment in their children's new found honesty with their feelings. Make sure you do not have a mouthful of drink when you read about the guy who lives opposite the Pink Palace. Reading the first half and you’re shocked about how much of the It’s A Sin story arc is based on Jill’s very own experience – if Russell T Davies wasn’t her bestie, hadn’t written the foreword to his book and created a part based on her and a part for her in the show, Nalder would have every right to sue. I actually liked how Jill made some references to the Covid-19 pandemic in her book, as really it's one of the closest things we have now in modern memory to compare to the terrifying era that was the AIDS epidemic including the fear and vilifying of a particular group of people.