They are young and they have a life-threatening disease…
The year is 1991. Diagnoses of HIV are rising and there is no cure in sight. Coming from all corners of the world, forty-one young men and women talk about living with HIV and AIDS.
They must cope with the enormous stigma, blame and guilt associated with the disease. And there are challenges in telling their parents and partners, trying to keep healthy and looking for work – all while facing an inevitably shortened future.
Yet they remain committed to celebrating the joys of life as much as they can. The book is testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.
First published in 1992, this book tells their unique stories in their own words.
‘This collection of true stories is as powerful as any great classic of fiction’ Sir Ian McKellen
Wise Before their Time was first published by HarperCollins in 1992 and it sold over 7000 copies world wide. I decided to take the rights back in 2017 and republished it on Amazon with a new cover. It has been selling slowly in its first year, but has sold over 100 copies in its first year
Some people make a clear decision to be tested:
"In 1983, I started studying nursing and I decided I might just go and get it confirmed
that I'm not HIV-positive. Earlier, we'd heard about AIDS, but not as a problem for us
in Scandinavia. We heard alarm reports from New York and how it was a gay disease.
Then the information got more specific, everybody could get it and you had to take
some precautions. I just wanted to get it confirmed that I wasn't infected, because
obviously I wasn't. I couldn't be. I had seen the pictures of ill people from America
and I didn't look like that.
It was a shock, of course, when I heard that I was positive. But it didn't disturb my life
very much. I talked to my doctor and he told me what I could and couldn't do. It didn't
seem as if I had to change my life very much, just certain things when it came to sex.
My doctor was very concerned for me, wanted to give me all the help he could. He
also was worried about my mental status, if I could cope. He said if I wanted to talk to
someone, he would be glad to help me get in contact with someone who could give me
professional help. He gave me a chance to explain how I felt. I was always welcome
there. I was very lucky, I think."
Erik (Sweden)
"I remember exactly where I was when I heard about AIDS the first time. I was in my
parents' living room and a news report came on about how haemophilia and AIDS
were linked. That was 1981 or ‘82. For about five years, it really wasn't a part of my
life. I knew it was there. When I heard people talking about it I listened, because
somewhere in the back of my head it seemed something I should pay attention to.
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Juliana Letti
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Author review: Juliana worked very quickly and has done a wonderful translation. My friend, who checked it over, said 'She has done you proud". She has also been very friendly to work with. She has expressed interest in the marketing phase, but we haven't got there yet. |
