Review of Hilary and Jackie (1998) by Alexander C — 17 Aug 2007

This is just a fascinating tale of life in a musical family, if nothing else. For Jackie, the cello is life in her childhood. For Hillary, the flute is the same. It is the way to achievement, the road to affection and an all-consuming activity.

We then have two roads, both tinged with saness and joy. For Hillary, the sadness is the failure of her musical ambitions and the joy is the release that brings to get out of the loop of musical achievement to gain affection.

For Jackie, she finds her cello voice, yet her success is tinged with sadness that life is nothing really without the cello. It had lots of resonances for me and for my childhood in a musical family. And perhaps too for where I now find myself, though that is another story! A brilliant exploration of childhood, musical talent, what is important in life and where our trasure is in life!