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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They could recognise throughout human history sex had been the cause for so much rumour, denial, anger, shame, and secrecy etc, treachery even. The love that shines through on every page of this book as Jill describes her life growing up in London, working in the theatre and West End, with a bunch of beautiful boys who made her laugh and whom she cared about deeply, is immense. What she does not say, which I will, is that as the young men 'come out' they also learn how many feelings and personal choices their parents were taught to suppress in their youth, feelings and actions which the parents expect the young men to suppress in their turn.

From 1985 onward Jill Nalder talked in her phrase 'liked a cracked record' to describe the frequency of her advice to the young gay men who were her friends about the necessity of safer sex practices, as they were commonly understood. Jill also informs us about the many advances that have been made since the epidemic which was very useful to know.

Like a book I read previously and reviewed here, by a different author, I came to this book via BBC radio. Warning to anyone with the slightest resistance to writing about friendships formed through singing show tunes; they will wonder quite what the fuss is about with this book, and will wonder quite where the author is coming from. 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. I enjoyed that Nalder also focuses on the wide reaching horrors of the AIDS pandemic and shows how loved those who suffered were. The suffering and the help that others tried to provide laid out in full technicolour, cabaret, theatre, shows, hospitals, etc.

This book is an absolute eye opener about a time that people are still affected and traumatised by, and while we know now that a HIV diagnosis isn't the death sentence it once was, we still have a long way to go before we overcome the stigma and fear that still rings around such a diagnosis. 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. At times I got a bit distracted trying to map the stories to the it's a sin production, but ultimately really enjoyed listening to Jill's first hand accounts. An important period of world history where the human stories often get lost in the headlines from the time. My favourite part was that Nalder named any of the journalists who wrote unkind articles during the HIV/AIDS crisis.For myself I understand the attractions around male homosexuality, and drag to an extent, but I admit am deaf to the appeal of show tunes become addictive. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Even though we all knew West’s portrayal was based on her on-screen mother, I for one assumed she was a composite character – that the script contained Jill and many other women’s stories.

To do all of that while caring for so many facing end of life trauma and demanding daily care, makes it even more remarkable. 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. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's daily session limit. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Ultimately this book is one last, and generous, gift to the ‘boys’ she cared for in those dark years.She is a successful West End actress and was the inspiration behind Jill Baxter's character in Russell T. It is an homage to those medical practitioners who so tirelessly worked to give dignity and love throughout the treatments. I cannot help but salute the humane and non-judgemental centre of this book, where perhaps to be that close, and to be that observant of the new gay community in action required the observer to be heterosexual and female. Considering the work involved, the is little in the book about her role in West End Cares, her legendary cabaret fundraisers, and the thousands raised for the Crusaid hardship fund.