cover image Jacqueline Du Pre: A Life

Jacqueline Du Pre: A Life

Carol Easton. Summit Books, $19.45 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-671-69591-0

In this sensitive biography an American woman who ``passed time'' with British musician Jacqueline du Pre (1945-1987) during the last years of her life helps explain why so many people fell in love with her persona as well as her incomparable artistry on the cello. Reminiscences of teachers, schoolmates, associates and friends quoted here show the shy, gawky, undereducated girl, the daughter of anti-Semitic parents who herself converted to Judaism and at age 21 married Jewish pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim. We also see the invalid, the longtime sufferer of multiple sclerosis, the grown woman who giggled a lot, loved to tell and hear dirty jokes (the cruder the better) and who was impatient with hypocrisy, pretension and prejudice. A tragic story told with warmth and understanding. Photos. (May)