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 went into this with the wrong expectations, and also I think this is for people who are very into the theatre musical scene.But from the tone of the book it seems to me that they were better talkers and better at living in the moment than they were closely observant listeners for each other. 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. That why the fear was so genuine and so prohibitive when a young man a genuine positive HIV result from a test. 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.

Every chapter made you think about how hard it must have been for all those poor men who not only had to deal with coming out in a very unforgiving world, but to also tell their family and friends that they were dying of AIDS. It’s absolutely shocking that we are in the 21st century and that there is still no cure for this dreadful disease. 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. I think it’s better than Ruth Coker Burns ‘all the young men’ but despite the subject matter, I still think the book falls short of being outstanding. This book will make you cry and as Jill took the time to educate the reader about the wonderful people who were Colin, Derek, Juan and Dursley - and the many, many others who lost their lives, I knew if I allowed it, I would just become a bawling mess.For them 'coming out' was partly about saying that the baggage sex came with in somebody else's past. Although a factual depiction of the Aids pandemic, Love from the Pink Palace is about love and family and pride and loyalty. This book resonated with me because I was around Jill's age and just starting University at the start of the AIDS crisis and this is such a valuable addition to the history books of that period. 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. 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.