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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I think I'd just rather read an AIDS memoir from the perspective of a queer writer rather than a straight ally, no matter how closely involved with the community. I came here after I heard a few people, on my travels, say that this place is the "place to party!" and "out of control!" and a "must!" It isn't out of control, let me nip that in the bud straightaway.

Love from the Pink Palace: Memories of Love, Loss and Cabaret

To those lost to the killer we call AIDS, the world of PrEP, treatment and people on medication who ‘can’t pass it on’ is alien. I cannot help but ask if we are doing enough to honour their legacy and sacrifice?Our first day there we did the booze cruise which cost 25 euros, this price covered only the boat ride itself, drinks were still about 2 euros on top of that. If we could describe the booze cruise in one word it would be "creepy", from the naked cliff jumping, to the naked body shots and having people basically have oral sex right in front of you, it was a very uncomfortable experience. At one point we stopped at a private beach to play some games which involved getting into sexual positions with your partner, switching swimsuits and eventually getting fully naked. It was very uncomfortable even for the most open minded people. The guys running the boat were very pushy in trying to get all the girls to take their tops off. There’s a delicious honouring foreword from fellow Wales born – Russell T Davies – who shares his love for Jill and the reasons he based It’s A Sin on her life. The book is full of joy, of wonderful anecdotes and insights into lives long gone, letting them flash into our memories with a golden whirl of camp gay radiance.

Love from the Pink Palace by Jill Nalder review — meet the

The author talks a little about the process of the 'coming out' part, but she keeps to herself the most private revelations the young men reveal to her as she plays 'mother hen'/parental substitute to them in different settings. 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. 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. 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.I feel like I’ve just had a big long conversation with Jill over a few brandies and she’s told me all about it. Impeccably written and utterly heartbreaking. Absolutely five stars. This book is desperately sad at points, but so vitally important. The shrouding of queer history by the British government, particulary of the AIDS crisis during the reign of Section 28 means that many of the younger LGBTQIA+ generation are left with very little knowledge of what happened from 1986-2003. A heartbreaking, life-affirming memoir of love, loss and cabaret through the AIDS crisis, from IT’S A SIN’s Jill Nalder

Love from the Pink Palace by Jill Nalder | Waterstones Love from the Pink Palace by Jill Nalder | Waterstones

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. Every daily activity that Pink Palace offers costs money, about 25 euros minimum. Due to the price and our experience with the booze cruise we didn't participate in any of those. As it happens, I was also a Jill in the eighties – but not half as good a Jill as real Jill’ DAWN FRENCHLove from the Pink Palace is Nalder’s moving account of London during the Aids crisis. It recounts her life as an actor who partied with drag queens and hosted cabarets in her flat, painting a portrait of a city wrapped up in glamour and hope – until rumours arrived from America about a frightening illness dubbed the “gay flu”. As the Aids virus spread across London, Nalder watched as her friends, once vibrant and full of life, started disappearing to die in secret.