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Plan which pride events to attend this year. 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. When Jill Nalder arrived at drama school in London in the early 1980s, she was ready for her life to begin. 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. She held the hands of so many men. In this moving memoir, IT'S A SIN's Jill Nalder tells the true story of her life during the AIDS crisis, and that of friends and colleagues, doctors and nurses, activists and fundraisers. Call us on: +442033020460 Sun: 10am-6pm In this moving memoir, Jill Nalder tells the true story of her life during the AIDS crisis, and that of friends and colleagues, doctors and nurses, activists and fundraisers.
Reviews
Alexander Adams
I was only born in 1984 so although I was really a little young to be aware of the AIDS crisis as it happened I had heard of it as I got older. They were, sadly, guinea pigs in a lot of ways though as new treatments were tried all the time and people were obviously desperate for any little glimmer of hope and willing to try anything.
hero_of_canton
They weren’t defined by their AIDS status and they certainly didn’t want to be seen as victims. When Jill Nalder moved to London to join drama school in the 1980s she quickly formed a close friendship group, mainly made up of young, gay men with similar dreams of stardom.
The book will have you laughing on one page and crying on the next. Jill writes so eloquently and with such detail.
Nalder’s descriptive writing really helps to make you feel like you are there alongside her and her friends. Nalder doesn’t sugarcoat what was happening at all and alongside the awful effects of the various infections and illnesses that people with AIDS inevitably find themselves dealing with they were also, in the main, desperately trying to hide it all from their loved ones and co-workers due to the stigma of the disease and just of homosexuality itself. I think it’s easy to forget sometimes just how recent that was.
I can only imagine how frightening it must have been at the start of the AIDS epidemic with misinformation being rife. The media reporting around high profile figures affected by it didn’t help either. Before too long Jill finds herself becoming an expert in AIDS as she works hard to support her friends as well as trying to maintain work in the West End and fundraise for a cure.
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