Hillary and Jackie, Hilary and Piers Du Pre' (Ballantine Books, NY, 1997) ***

This book, which tells the story of virtuoso cellist Jacqueline Du Pre' reads like a novel but is actually part biography (Jackie's) and part autobiography (Hillary and Piers). It is an amazing story. Jackie began to play the cello at age 5, encouraged by a mother who was a talented musician and teacher.

Her family life, a mixture of sibling rivalry and love, dominates her earlier years, showing her to be a precocious but difficult child. She was a musical genius but did not develop the social skills that would have made her later life much happier. At age 16 she made her international debut.

For the next ten years she played a demanding schedule of concerts in Europe and America, establishing a reputation as one of the finest cellists in the world. Her career then ended suddenly when multiple sclerosis caused her to lose the feeling in her hands. Fourteen years later she died from the disease.

Each of these three phases of her life showed her to be a person of extreme courage as well as talent. She was often unhappy in what most of us would call the normal day-to-day part of her life, ranging from school activities to marriage. But she played the cello with a passion that few, if any, have ever matched.