Reviews of Barbara Kingsolver's novel Partita, about a pianist and the role of art
Two UK reviews of Barbara Kingsolver's novel Partita, about the pianist Livia, praise its treatment of music and art's place in ordinary life. The Guardian finds it quieter than Demon Copperhead and criticises its sex writing.
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The story, neutrally told
Left · 2Barbara Kingsolver's new novel Partita follows Livia, a gifted pianist who leaves rural Tennessee on a music scholarship to Indiana University and later has to reckon with her past. The ConversationLC “Livia is just 20 at Indiana University, far from home, on a prestigious music scholarship.” Read at The Conversation ↗ The GuardianLC “through the story of a piano prodigy turned music teacher” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1The Conversation's reviewer, Jenni Ramone of Nottingham Trent University, says each chapter is named after a section of a partita and has a role in making up the whole piece. The ConversationLC “Named for elements of musical compositions, the chapters of Partita alternate between formative events from Livia’s adolescence and early adulthood” Read at The Conversation ↗ Left · 1Ramone describes chapters that alternate between Livia's youth and a present in which, in her mid-40s, she clears her dead mother's house, and she reads the book as one of healing. The ConversationLC “the narrative present when Livia is in her mid-40s, clearing her hoarder mother’s house after her death”“its narrative of healing is subtle and convincing” Read at The Conversation ↗
Left · 1In the Guardian's account, by Lara Feigel, the novel opens with Livia as a school music teacher in rural Tennessee, married to a farmer, whose contentment is disturbed by a phone call from Sigurd, her college lover. The GuardianLC “Livia is a school music teacher in the same part of rural Tennessee where she grew up, married to a farmer who once worked on her father’s farm.”“Contented middle age has been disturbed by a phone call from Sigurd” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2Both reviews place Livia's brother's suicide when she was 11 at the centre of her past, and both mention her sister-in-law, who says art should help you like your life better. The ConversationLC “her brother’s suicide, a formative event when she was 11 years old and he 18” Read at The Conversation ↗ The GuardianLC “the point of art is to help you like your life better” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2Both reviewers present the central question as the purpose of art: Ramone contrasts the sister-in-law's view with Livia's belief in the value of mastering difficult works, while Feigel asks whether to give everything to a talent or to use it to enrich a community. The ConversationLC “Livia argues there is inherent value in reading or playing classics, making the effort to understand complex works.” Read at The Conversation ↗ The GuardianLC “Or should you use your artistic gift to enrich your life and that of your community?” Read at The Guardian ↗
Left · 1Ramone also highlights class, noting Livia suppresses her rural accent and hides gaps in her education at university, and that the novel shows the finances of higher education. The ConversationLC “Livia has to work harder than her peers at university to gain her instructors’ respect, suppressing her rural Tennessee accent and hiding gaps in her education.” Read at The Conversation ↗ Left · 1Feigel adds that Livia's dreams of a concert career were shattered by an accident that damaged her hand, and that Sigurd played a part in it. The GuardianLC “her dreams of being a world-class pianist were shattered by an accident that damaged her hand, and that Sigurd played a part in this” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 2Both reviewers note that Kingsolver studied music: Ramone from the author's acknowledgement note, which describes piano lessons and study at DePauw University School of Music, and Feigel from a college music scholarship. The ConversationLC “Barbara Kingsolver is also a pianist, as she notes in the novel’s acknowledgement note.” Read at The Conversation ↗ The GuardianLC “Kingsolver – who herself went to college with a music scholarship to study classical piano” Read at The Guardian ↗
Left · 1Ramone calls the book's rave reviews 'well deserved' and the novel 'sharp, compelling and rich'. The ConversationLC “Partita has received rave reviews, and these are well deserved.” Read at The Conversation ↗ Left · 1Feigel is more qualified: she finds the sex writing 'breathless, overwrought' and says it threatens to throw the novel off-kilter, though she decides it reflects Livia's own voice, and she finds the music writing subtler. The GuardianLC “this breathless, overwrought prose runs through the account of Livia’s affair with Sigurd, threatening to throw the whole novel off-kilter”“it’s revealing that Livia’s voice is subtler when it comes to music” Read at The Guardian ↗ Left · 1Feigel calls Partita 'a quieter book, slower to get going' than Demon Copperhead, but a rich novel that argues for art in ordinary communities. The GuardianLC “Partita doesn’t offer the immediate satisfactions of Demon Copperhead; it’s a quieter book, slower to get going and to make its world enticing.”“Partita is an impassioned testament to the need for art in ordinary communities, and the need for ordinariness in art” Read at The Guardian ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left2 outlets
- Framing
- Both are reviews by individual critics. The Conversation (an academic) gives a warmly appreciative reading focused on the musical structure of the chapters. The Guardian gives a more mixed but ultimately positive review that compares the novel to Demon Copperhead.
- Emphasis
- The Conversation: structure, class and the author's acknowledgement of rural piano teachers. The Guardian: the sex writing, the music passages and the argument for art in ordinary communities.
- Leaves out or plays down
- The Conversation does not mention any weakness in the prose or compare the book with Demon Copperhead. The Guardian does not discuss the chapter titles or the class themes in detail.
- Charged language
- “touching”“virtuoso storytelling achievement”“breathless, overwrought”“gaucheness”
- For example
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“Partita has received rave reviews, and these are well deserved.” — The Conversation
“this breathless, overwrought prose runs through the account of Livia’s affair with Sigurd” — The Guardian
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Partita is Kingsolver's new novel and centres on Livia, a pianist from rural Tennessee who studied on a music scholarship at Indiana University.
- Livia's brother died by suicide when she was 11.
- Both reviewers see the novel as asking what art is for, and both quote the sister-in-law's line that art should help you like your life better.
- Both reviews are positive overall.
Where accounts differ
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How the novel's present-day frame is described
- Left
- The Conversation says the present finds Livia in her mid-40s clearing her hoarder mother's house after her death. The Guardian says the novel opens with Livia as a school music teacher married to a farmer, prompted by a call from Sigurd. The two reviews stress different elements of the same book.
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Quality of the prose
- Left
- The Conversation calls the novel 'sharp, compelling and rich'. The Guardian praises its music writing but finds the erotic passages 'breathless, overwrought' and the gaucheness out of place.
Barbara Kingsolver person
Kingsolver is presented as a bestselling, award-winning novelist and pianist who wrote Partita partly to acknowledge rural piano teachers. In her acknowledgement note she says classical music and fine arts are mostly out of reach in working-class places like the one where she grew up. The Guardian calls her a committed social novelist.
“In rural, working-class places like the one where I grew up, classical music and fine arts are mostly out of reach.” — The Conversation
“Kingsolver is a committed social novelist” — The Guardian
Left2 articles
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The ConversationLC · · Opinion
Sympathetic An academic's appreciative reading of how the chapter titles mirror the partita form and how the book treats art, class and healing.
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The GuardianLC · · Opinion
Partita By Barbara Kingsolver review – a quieter follow-up to Demon Copperhead
Mixed A broadly positive review that criticises the erotic prose and calls the novel quieter than Demon Copperhead, but praises its music writing and its argument for art in community life.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 5 Oct 16:50 First The ConversationLC Partita by Barbara Kingsolver: the touching story of a musician striving to bring the movements of her life together Opinion
- 6 Oct 07:00 +14h 10m The GuardianLC Partita By Barbara Kingsolver review – a quieter follow-up to Demon Copperhead Opinion
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.