Barbara Kingsolver Returns with 'Partita'

Barbara Kingsolver's previous novel, "Demon Copperhead," was a monumental success, earning a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction which it shared with Hernan Diaz's "Trust." The 2022 novel, a modern retelling of Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" set in Appalachia, also won the prestigious Women's Prize for Fiction, making Kingsolver the first author to win that award twice. Her new novel "Partita," scheduled for release on October 6, 2026, will also be set in a rural community. The story introduces Livia Bohusz, a woman from rural Appalachia whose quiet life is upended by a phone call from a former lover, forcing her to confront a past she has long kept hidden. The narrative shifts between past and present, exploring Livia's time as a promising piano prodigy at a music conservatory. The book examines themes of class barriers, the personal costs of ambition, childhood trauma, and the relationship between life and art. The theme of classical music is deeply personal for Kingsolver. In the 1970s, she attended DePauw University on a classical piano scholarship before switching her major to biology, believing a career as a concert pianist was unattainable. Kingsolver stated she was inspired to write "Partita" to explore the class-based rules that often separate folk and country music from the symphony hall. She described herself as "the weird country kid who loved reading Tolstoy and playing Bach" but kept those interests private.