Hilary and Jackie: The True Story of Two Sisters Who Shared a Passion, a Madness and a Man [Paperback]

Hilary du Pre (Author), Piers du Pre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 1998

From the moment Jacqueline du Pré first held a cello at the age of five, it was clear she had an extraordinary gift. At sixteen, when she made her professional debut, she was hailed as one of the world's most talented and exciting musicians. But ten years later, she stopped playing virtually overnight, when multiple sclerosis removed the feeling in her hands just before a concert. It took fourteen more years for the crippling disease to take its final toll.

In this uniquely revealing biography, Hilary and Piers du Pré have re-created the life they shared with their sister in astonishing personal detail, unveiling the private world behind the public face. With warmth and candor they recount Jackie's blissful love of the cello, her marriage to the conductor Daniel Barenboim, her compulsions, her suffering, and, above all, the price exacted by her talent on the whole family. For proud as they were of Jackie's enormous success, none of them was prepared for the profound impact her genius would have on each of their lives. . . .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jacqueline du Pré saw the outlines of her short, brilliant, and tragic life when she was still very young. The first time she heard a cello (she was 4 years old), she said, "Mummy, I want to make that sound." She got a cello for her 5th birthday and made her professional debut at age 16. She went on to become one of the century's most amazing musicians for 10 years. Then her career was ended by multiple sclerosis. She seems to have foreseen that crippling illness, which killed her at age 42 after years of slow deterioration. She was 9 years old when she confided in her sister, Hilary (who coauthored this biography with their brother, Piers), "Don't tell Mum, but... when I grow up, I won't be able to walk or move." Before she was stricken down, Jacqueline du Pré led a life of unusual richness and complexity. Here that life is examined by her siblings in loving but realistic terms, including the flaws and conflicts as well as the achievements.

The biography formed the basis for the 1998 film starring Emily Watson. It is a sad chronicle of the pitiless disease that twisted Jackie's personality and sanity as well as her body, but also a joyful book about music, the tenderness and rivalries of family life, and above all a singular, tormented, but buoyant personality. --Joe McLellan

From the Inside Flap

From the moment Jacqueline du Pré first held a cello at the age of five, it was clear she had an extraordinary gift. At sixteen, when she made her professional debut, she was hailed as one of the world's most talented and exciting musicians. But ten years later, she stopped playing virtually overnight, when multiple sclerosis removed the feeling in her hands just before a concert. It took fourteen more years for the crippling disease to take its final toll.

In this uniquely revealing biography, Hilary and Piers du Pré have re-created the life they shared with their sister in astonishing personal detail, unveiling the private world behind the public face. With warmth and candor they recount Jackie's blissful love of the cello, her marriage to the conductor Daniel Barenboim, her compulsions, her suffering, and, above all, the price exacted by her talent on the whole family. For proud as they were of Jackie's enormous success, none of them was prepared for the profound impact her genius would have on each of their lives. . . .

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st American Edition, Nov. 1998 edition (December 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345432711
• ISBN-13: 978-0345432711
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An All Consuming Gift, April 6, 2002

By 

Jena Ball "Jena Ball" (North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hilary and Jackie: The True Story of Two Sisters Who Shared a Passion, a Madness and a Man (Paperback)

An All Consuming Gift

This is a tough book to read. Ostensibly it is the story of the famous cellist Jacqueline du Pre as told by her older sister Hilary and her younger brother Piers. What emerges, however, is a testament to how one person's overwhelming needs and passions can color and overshadow the lives of those around her. Both Hilary and Piers talk about and relate the main incidents in Jackie's (Jacqueline's nickname) upbringing and life, but woven into those incidents are their own struggles to find and maintain their identities in a family that was focused around a star. Hilary in particular, a gifted and promising musician in her own right, was dealt a heavy blow as her younger sister's gifts began to emerge. Although still encouraged to pursue her musical studies, she was clearly assigned a secondary role when it came to time and attention from her mother. Soon the entire household revolved around Jackie - her physical needs, lessons, friends and performance schedule.

The book would be easier to get through if the authors were able to include some insight into what went on in their family. Hilary says she thinks that the unusually close bond her mother formed with Jackie had to do with her father dying shortly before Jackie was born. Beyond that, the sad and convoluted tale simply spins itself out with both Hilary and Piers feeling caught in the maelstrom of Jackie's dramatic, often troubled career and personal life.

As Jackie becomes more and more isolated and driven by her gifts, Hilary marries and starts a family to escape. Meanwhile Piers, who has flatly refused to have anything to do with music, becomes a pilot in order, as he puts it, "...to be appreciated for being me, not just the baby brother of Jacqueline du Pre." Even Derek du Pre, husband of Iris and father of Hilary, Jackie and Piers, buries himself in work, trying not to mind that his wife never has time for their relationship. Even with their own lives firmly established, however, no one in the family is safe from Jackie's needs. In fact, the habit of sacrificing for her is so ingrained in everyone that they are constantly putting their lives on hold and dropping whatever they are doing to take care of her.

The greatest tragedy of this complex family saga is, of course, the loss of Jackie to multiple sclerosis. Anyone who has heard a performance by Jacqueline du Pre will find that this story of her life is much like her playing - intrepid, intense, and driven by a passion that left no room for moderation. "Was it worth it?" I asked myself as I finished the book and set it aside. "Or was the price that was paid to foster Jackie's genius too high?" I'll leave it up to you to decide.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic and Extraordinary, September 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hilary and Jackie: The True Story of Two Sisters Who Shared a Passion, a Madness and a Man (Paperback)

I think I read this book because I wanted to be a cellist. And when I finished reading it, I felt like a cellist. Jacqueline du Pre was humoristic, mysterious, and a genius above all. Some have gone to call her selfish and spoiled but I don't think she was either of those. She lived her life like how her famous Elgar Cello Concerto was played: Full of misery, depression, and lonliness. All who say she was just spoiled do not know what it is like to be seperated from everybody else by a rare gift. It's like they love you but they don't wish to ever get close to you. This book does go into every detail of her life, and all readers should be prepared for tears. But the result of knowing the life of a brilliant person is very worth it.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A microscopic look into the live of a great musician, October 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hilary and Jackie: The True Story of Two Sisters Who Shared a Passion, a Madness and a Man (Paperback)

Many thanks to Hilary and Piers Du Pré for sharing their memories of their sister with us. Reading their book makes one wonder of the difficulties and the wonderful times such a family must have had. I'm grateful to them for having shared this life with us. Jacqueline Du Pré's gave her life and her being to MUSIC and I'm thankful for her presence, although short, in this world. It's because of these "temperamental, egotistic and domineering artists" that our world is a better place to live in. I must leave you now Jacqueline Du Pré and her Elgar Concerto are calling me...