Partita

 

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
10/6/26; 352 pages
HarperCollins 

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver is very highly recommended literary fiction following the story of a woman's life. This is a stunningly beautifully written, heartbreaking novel and will definitely be on my list of the best novels of the year.

Livia Cable is now comfortably married to Charlie. They make modest livelihood in the farm country where they both grew up and she offers piano lessons to interested students. When Livia receives a phone call from an old lover it shakes her to her core. Decades ago, in 1989 when she was 20 years-old, in college, and on track to be a concert pianist, Sigurd knew her as Livia Bohusz. He discovered her again from her maiden name in her mother's published obituary. 

Sigurd will be in the area and wants to see Livia. She needs to think about it. This request brings up tumultuous memories from her past. The brief time when she knew him represents one of the best/worst times in her life, a time when Livia was traversing unknown territory and class barriers. She was a passionate and gifted pianist, a scholarships student, and estranged from her parents. 

The narrative alternates between the past and present as it follows Livia's life and also is a coming-of-age tale told from the distance time allows. The plot follows her childhood, passion for music, her mother's dismissive behavior, the death of her brother Cyrus (18) when she was 11, the devastation which followed her relationship with Sigurd, and her return to Tennessee and the life she has made there. As Livia considers whether she want to see Sigurd again or not, she is also trying to clean out her hoarder mother's house and surprises await her there too. 

The novel opens with a listening list and structures the novel with musical terms. The classical-music vocabulary is present throughout and will add depth for those well acquainted with it. As Kingsolver tells the reader early in the narrative,  A partita is a composition made of many parts with different paces and moods. All readers can appreciate the insight into the special world classical music inhabits. (Those of us with different background/education will understand the terms we know and take for granted aren't commonly used or understood by others.)

The class distinction evident between characters is sharply captured and handled with the wisdom and understanding time grants to all of us. Not all professors, as well as college kids, understand the working class or those doing shift work and they can sometimes judge them from that high lofty place and lack of true understanding. Running a dairy operation does require knowledge, skill, and dedication and true intelligence would allow one to comprehend this without  judgement. 

Livia is a survivor. She is a fully realized character with a rich history that helps comprise the adult woman she is when we meet her. Partita tells her story, all the bits and pieces that compose her personality. I'll admit there was a brief time in the novel when I was furious with her, but then forgave her while in tears while reading. Accompanying youth can be poor judgement. A life is never so simple that it can be reduced to a few facts. All the hurts, struggles, loves, losses, and experiences over a lifetime form the person you meet as an older adult.  

There were so many passages I highlighted while reading that hit close to home. Here are a few: "I heard a lot of news that year that began with, 'Don't take this the wrong way.'" Unspoken to her mother, "What is my offense? My music or me?" Her tall brother Cyrus being expected to play basketball, but he hated sports, "Everybody was judging the book by its cover, but nobody wanted to read the book." And, "You don't stop talking to people just because they're dead. When you miss them, you have things to say."  The ending was so perfect I was left in tears as there is genuine closure. 

Partita is a perfect choice for those who enjoy beautifully written literary novels. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via Edelweiss. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

Life Out of Order

 

Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger
10/6/26; 560 pages
Hanover Square Press 

Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger is a dystopian/speculative story where virtual reality and real life converge. It is not recommended. 

This is a purported sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003), which I loved, but actually it isn't a sequel. If you are looking for a continuation of the The Time Traveler’s Wife, this time following Alba, forget it because that is not what is here. What slops our direction is w-a-y too long, too political, too convoluted, too annoying, too pretentious, too self-righteous, too much. In order to finish, I ended up skimming through this nonsense looking for the connection I sought because I loved the Time Traveler's Wife when I read it over a decade ago. 

This one is a treatise on political propaganda that pretends to be a novel and is so bad it tempts me to lower my rating of The Time Traveler’s Wife. No thanks. Do not read this. Ever.