Book Buzz: Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
“When I began this novel, for some reason, well, I set out to write a love story, and I had the idea of having my protagonist be a really serious musician who was really in love with her art, in love with creating music. And then when she falls in love with a person, those two passions conflict. I also felt it was really timely. A lot of what this novel is about is the question of why do we need art? What good is music? What does it do for us?”
― Barbara Kingsolver, Interview, NPR
What booksellers are saying about Partita
- Partita is a beautiful tale about love – for others, for the job, for the talent and, most importantly, for yourself. Who are you if you’re suddenly separated from what you’ve always known? How do you mourn such a great loss, pick up the pieces, and move on? How do you let go of everything you thought you would be and settle for a “good enough” life, when you had the potential to be greater? You can tell that Kingsolver did a substantial amount of research on music composition and theory in order to write Partita―I loved the various technical musical jargon that is seamlessly woven throughout the book. I thought it really helped to capture the essence and expertise of the female protagonist. A very well written novel and my first experience with Kingsolver, but certainly will not be my last.
― Shree, Hills & Hamlets Bookshop, Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia | BUY
- We are so lucky to be living in the time of writers as masterful as Barbara Kingslover! I didn’t want to leave Livia, she will steal your heart.
― Cristen, Long Story Books, Atlanta, Georgia | BUY
- Listen, it’s Barbara Kingsolver, the woman is simply incapable of writing a bad book. Partita is a gem, and Kingsolver’s prose is truly unmatched.
― Lily, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, North Carolina | BUY
- The delicious introspection of Kingfisher’s characters and writing never disappoints, hitting all the right notes, and Partita is no exception. This haunting yet enchanting melody chronicles a woman’s journey as she escapes, returns to her roots, chases her dreams, faces numerous tribulations, and finds her continual saving grace in music.
― Ashly, Underbrush Books, Rogers, Arkansas | BUY
About Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is the author of ten bestselling works of fiction, including the novels Unsheltered, The Bean Trees, and The Poisonwood Bible, as well as books of poetry, essays, creative nonfiction, and Coyote’s Wild Home, a children’s book co-authored with Lily Kingsolver. She also collaborated with family members on the influential Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Kingsolver’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and has earned a devoted readership at home and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and has received numerous awards and honors including the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and most recently, the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. She lives with her husband on a farm in southern Appalachia.
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“Bad Words didn’t have a single moment of inspiration! It sort of congealed over many years in book publishing, and I shaped it around a lot of elements I find fun to write and think about. I love a frightening critic character, and I love two characters in diametric opposition being forced to reevaluate each other. I also think it’s an underdiscussed and bonkers fact that the quiet agreement of professional criticism is that, someday, you will become the sworn enemy of somebody in your very small artistic industry, because you can’t like every book.” 
