Wildfire signs memoir from It's A Sin inspiration Nalder

Wildfire has acquired Love from the Pink Palace: Memories of Love, Loss and Cabaret Through the AIDS Crisis, a memoir by Jill Nalder, the real-life inspiration behind the character Jill from Channel 4's "It’s a Sin". 

Editorial director Ella Gordon acquired world rights from Chris Davis at Chris Davis Management. Love from the Pink Palace will be published in hardback, export trade paperback, e-book and audio on 12th May 2022.

In Love from the Pink Palace, Nalder will tell the story of her life during the London AIDS crisis, and that of her friends and colleagues, doctors and nurses, activists and fundraisers. She will recount how she juggled a busy West End career while joining the campaign for better AIDS awareness and research – co-founding the charity West End Cares, later named Theatre MAD: Make a Difference, which has raised millions in the fight against HIV/AIDS – as well as caring for those around her who were sick and dying. She will also shine a light on those who were stigmatised and shamed, drawing on letters, photos and documents to give voice to those who died too soon.

"It’s a Sin", created by Nalder's life-long friend Russell T Davies, followed the lives of five friends as the AIDS crisis ravaged 1980s London. Nalder, an actress, cameoed in the show as Jill’s mother. In the Guardian earlier this year, Davies said of Nalder: "Jill met the crisis head on. She stood at the heart of the storm. She went to the hospitals and the funerals and the marches. She held the hands of so many men. She lost them, and remembered them, and somehow kept going."

Nalder said: "My hope with this book is not just to tell my story of life in the shadow of HIV/AIDS in the Eighties, but to tell our story: the story of the brave and beautiful boys who faced fear, stigma and illness, but carried on living life to the full; our shared experiences as I remember them."

Gordon commented: "Throughout her book, Jill’s commitment to telling this story with the utmost integrity shines through. She is determined to pay tribute to those who were lost, and to give a deeper understanding of this painful period (the highs and joyful times, as well as the lows) – as well as raising awareness of a disease that still affects millions today. Pink Palace is a beautiful, much-needed book, and I can’t wait to publish it."