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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On a lighter note, I think anyone who likes theatre or anything West End/Broadway would really enjoy this as that is the industry Jill and her friends all work in and there's mentions of loads of different shows as well as some names that people may recognise. 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. I laughed and cried like a baby, and was transported back to a time of innocence, clouded by the enormity of the harsh reality .

The suffering and the help that others tried to provide laid out in full technicolour, cabaret, theatre, shows, hospitals, etc. 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.

But soon rumours were spreading from America about a frightening illness being dubbed the 'gay flu', and Jill and her friends now found their formerly carefree existence under threat. That friend made it to 7 August 1995, painfully close to life-saving triple-drug therapy that would arrive less than 12 months later. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. 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. She guides us through her career and her life, and what leaps off the page is her strength, her compassion and her unswerving loyalty to people who were sometimes afraid to live their real lives.

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. Jill is and was a true inspirational hero and support for a lot of gay men who suffered through the very worst of the AIDs pandemic. 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 think I went into this with the wrong expectations, and also I think this is for people who are very into the theatre musical scene. 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.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. Their stories now do not only live in the fictional characters of Ritchie, Ash, Colin, Roscoe and Gregory but in full, never-to-be-forgotten technicolour in the pages of Love From the Pink Palace. To do all of that while caring for so many facing end of life trauma and demanding daily care, makes it even more remarkable. An important period of world history where the human stories often get lost in the headlines from the time. Like a book I read previously and reviewed here, by a different author, I came to this book via BBC radio.

I highly recommend this book - it's beautifully written, brings people who should be alive and performing today back to life in a lovely way, and educates the reader brilliantly about a scary time in the world. It’s absolutely shocking that we are in the 21st century and that there is still no cure for this dreadful disease. I enjoyed that Nalder also focuses on the wide reaching horrors of the AIDS pandemic and shows how loved those who suffered were. Most of all, she shines a light on those who were stigmatised and shamed, and remembers those brave and beautiful boys who were lost too soon.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. The _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. 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. 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 - now found their formerly carefree existence under threat.