Barbara Kingsolver’s new book is a canny feat of art imitating art. Partita is about a pianist, Livia, looking back at her life and trying to understand what art means to her.
It’s structured the same way the composition from which it takes its name is. A partita consists of a series of dance movements, typically written for a solo instrument, that vary in pace and mood. All these parts must come together to form the whole. In much the same way, Livia and the reader must bring these movements together to achieve a sense of completeness and understanding.
