From the moment Jacqueline du Pre 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 Pre have re-created the life they shared with their sister in astonishing...