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. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. I laughed and cried like a baby, and was transported back to a time of innocence, clouded by the enormity of the harsh reality . 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.

Jill also makes sure to point out in her book as well how AIDs diagnoses also affected many women and how testing procedure failed women and children who may have contracted the disease whether it be through sexual relations, blood transfusions, or in utero. 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. 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.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. It may also be true that gay men were half-aware that sex is something that had always resisted literal and absolutely honest two sided conversations. 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. 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.

Author Jill Nalder is the inspiration behind the character of Jill in It's A Sin (a brilliant show if you haven't seen it), and that's how I found out about this book and knew I needed to read it. 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. 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 that their formerly carefree existence now under threat. Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. 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.The stories of these tenacious fun, life loving members of the Theatre and Gay communities alongside the work of the Health care providers are an inspiring read. Far far too many references to theatres and plays, which lost me as someone who is not familiar with that world. Like a book I read previously and reviewed here, by a different author, I came to this book via BBC radio. You think that we are in a century where the science and technology is considered to be more advanced then it was 100 years ago, you think they would have come up with a cure for HIV.

I don’t usually enjoy autobiographical books, and at first I thought this was the same as others I had read or tried to read, but I persisted and I was rewarded with a beautiful moving and heartbreaking read.Jill also informs us about the many advances that have been made since the epidemic which was very useful to know. It read just as a list of famous people that the author knew and with too many people included it was difficult to attach to any of them. 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. 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. I enjoyed that Nalder also focuses on the wide reaching horrors of the AIDS pandemic and shows how loved those who suffered were.

That friend made it to 7 August 1995, painfully close to life-saving triple-drug therapy that would arrive less than 12 months later. In this heartbreaking, inspiring and deeply-felt book, actor, activist and AIDS awareness campaigner Jill Nalder – inspiration for one of the central characters in TV drama It’s A Sin – delivers an incredibly moving and personal account of life and friendship in 1980s London at the onset of the AIDS crisis. The confidence the young gay men hid a weakness where they believed they were good listeners, because they were clever and they were good learners.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.