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Partita

Author of Demon Copperhead, Double Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction

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Partita

By: Barbara Kingsolver
Narrated by: Megan Tusing
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THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
'A TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ' - THE TIMES

'SUBTLE, UNDENIABLE, AND THEN FULL-ON BLAZING' - RACHEL JOYCE

'A VIRTUOSIC PERFORMANCE' - THE FINANCIAL TIMES

'PROFOUND . . . I WAS GRIPPED BY IT, UTTERLY' - KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE

'FULL OF PATHOS, WISDOM AND HUMOUR' - THE SPECTATOR

'I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN' - BONNIE GARMUS

You've taken Demon to your hearts, prepare for another 'emotionally raw, riotously entertaining' read as you meet Livia.

A song without any answer in it? That's the sound of waiting.

Livia Bohusz misses her brother, Cyrus. Unmoored by his death, and the stifling silence of the family farm, eleven-year-old Livia has no choice but to survive. Her only solace: music, an escape in the quiet rapture piano practice brings. The promise of a new life her talent offers, intoxicating.

So when Livia starts her college music scholarship it feels as if a new life might begin. Immersing herself in her passions in a world where she excels, even as she struggles to fit in with more urbane classmates, she glimpses the possibilities of a life beyond the farm and her parents.

Then one springtime, as the smell of reviving grass and crocuses and the sounds of songbirds fill the air, Livia catches a glimpse of shirt sleeves rolled to the elbow, muscles you wouldn't miss in the rear view:

'Who is that man?'

It is a question Livia may come to wish she had never asked.

From one of the greatest writers alive comes Livia's story, Partita, both a coming-of-age narrative and an examination of midlife hopes and regrets, a novel as simple as love and longing, as touching, complex and finely tuned as the music it celebrates.

'A VIRTUOSO WORTHY OF A STANDING OVATION' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'COMPELLING, EMOTIONALLY RICH, IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP READING' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'MY GOODNESS KINGSOLVER CAN WRITE' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A TRUE WORK OF ART. THIS IS GOING TO BE ONE HELL OF A BOOK HANGOVER' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
©2026 Barbara Kingsolver (P)2026 Faber & Faber Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt
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All stars
Most relevant
The readers voice was engaging and I loved the music thread running throughout the story

Emotional and heartwarming

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A thoroughly absorbing story weaving throughout the life of one woman. Detailing how life circumstances took her apart and how through sheer grit she pieced herself back together to live a richly different life than the one that she imagined.
I really enjoyed this new book by Barbara Kingsolver and it has stayed on my mind.

Another masterpiece

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It was wonderfully written story, beautifully narrated with an underlying ache and sense of loss, sadness and at times despair. Beautifully observed and as with all her books, I’ve come away having learned so much.

Beautifully poignant

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I loved all of it. I could not put it down. I was enchanted

Spellbinding

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This is a most extraordinary book. It is profound and intelligent, lyrical and visceral. A journey into love and relationship is the ground for exploring idealism vs pragmatism, a calling vs an ‘ordinary’ life, the place of art and its absence and much, much more. I felt that I was the protagonist!

I would be surprised if this does not become required reading in academic circles and for study in the long distant future.

Beautifully read, the lilting accent added authenticity to the setting of the story and the voices of the characters were subtle and enhancing.

A brilliant book, full of intensity.

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