Nova Scotia House: The Emotions Behind The AIDS Epidemic

(Cover of Nova Scotia House)

Nova Scotia House, written by Charlie Porter, centers on a middle-aged man, Johnny, as he looks back and reflects on his relationship with an older man, Jerry, when he was 19. Jerry ended up being Johnny’s life partner, but unfortunately, Jerry passed away due to AIDS. Johnny is now left alone in the world he made with Jerry.

I started writing this blog as soon as I finished reading the book because it was so amazingly good, emotional, and deep, and I just wanted to get all of my thoughts down before I forgot them. 

The first thing I noticed when I started reading was the writing style of the book. Porter used a really unique grammar style that is similar to a stream of consciousness. His sentences rarely ever used any commas, making the tone seem urgent, fast-paced, and raw. At first, I was extremely confused because I didn’t know the book had this type of writing style. I thought that I was reading it wrong. The last stream of consciousness book I read, I found to be really boring, so I wasn’t expecting much, but after reading a few pages and getting used to the style, I fell in love with it. I think it really added so much more emotional value to the book since it felt like I was listening to Johnny’s real thoughts in real time.

I really like the fact that the book mainly focused on the emotions of witnessing your partner slowly die in front of you while knowing that your government was withholding medical information to help him. The book focusing on the grief of losing a loved one, made it so that even straight people could somewhat understand the pain gay men went through during the epidemic. 

Sometimes when reading books, you know that the characters are obviously fiction because they might say something that just feels off, but in Nova Scotia House, the characters all felt real. At one point, I had to look up if the book was based on someone. And the fact is, even though the book and the characters are fiction, the events aren't. So many people lost their lives to something that could have been cured earlier

One of my favorite movements in the book was the protest that Jerry and Johnny were a part of. The protest happened during some kind of government meeting; multiple protesters interrupted, went one stage, covered themselves in fake blood, and started yelling for the government to release the information they had on AIDS. Jerry went undercover as a worker, and when he had a chance, he took over the mic and started saying a speech he had prepared, but at the end, he started asking why they were letting Jerry die and that he was gonna die, over and over. He kept saying that until he was dragged outside. This part really stuck with me because even though he had a whole speech prepared, criticizing the government for not sharing important information, at the end, he was focused on Jerry, his partner, his love, who was going to die; in that moment, he only cared about his Jerry.

(One of the quilts featured in the UK AIDS memorial Quilt)

Another beautiful thing in this book, which I haven't seen people really talk about, is that it featured the UK AIDS memorial quilt. This really highlighted the powerful community response to the epidemic. So many communities and social circles watched their friends die while also facing intense stigma and discrimination. Now there are treatments for HIV so that it doesn't progress to AIDS, and while this generation and next will never understand what it was like to live under constant fear, it's our responsibility to pass down the history and the memory of those who have suffered.