Partita

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. The novel opens with Sigurd’s disruptive phone call after decades of silence. How did this opening frame your expectations for the story? Did you find the resolution of his return at the final recital satisfying, and what made you feel that way?

2. How does Barbara Kingsolver’s exploration of rural life, ambition, and buried family secrets in Partita compare to her other works you may have read, such as The Poisonwood Bible or Demon Copperhead? What signature elements of her writing did you recognize in this story?

3. Think about your overall emotional response to Livia’s journey. Which part of her story resonated with you most powerfully, her youthful ambition and heartbreak, or her later resilience and reconstruction of a new life?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Livia’s mother is revealed to be a tragic figure whose own artistic dreams were crushed, leading her to resent her daughter’s success. Think about a time you learned something about a person’s past that completely changed your perception of them. How did that new understanding affect your relationship or feelings?

2. When Livia’s dream of being a concert pianist is shattered, she must redefine what a successful and meaningful life looks like. Have you ever experienced a setback that forced you to change your path or your definition of success? What did you learn from that experience?

3. Livia’s passion for the piano serves as an escape, a career path, and eventually, a way to build community. Do you have a passion or hobby that has played different roles in your life at different times? How has its meaning evolved for you?

4. The story contrasts Sigurd’s all-consuming, passionate love with Charlie’s quiet, steadfast devotion. What do you think the novel suggests about the different kinds of partnerships we need at different stages of our lives?

5. Livia’s friend Mickie is an essential source of support and sisterhood. Who are the “Mickies” in your own life? What qualities make someone a true anchor during difficult times?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Sigurd’s life is shaped by his deep commitment to the Socialist Workers Party and its “turn to industry” policy. What does his choice to prioritize political ideology over his relationship with Livia reveal about the sacrifices demanded by activism? Where do you see similar tensions between personal life and public commitment today?

2. How does the backdrop of the 1980s campus anti-apartheid movement, which Livia observes as an outsider, contrast with the insular, high-pressure world of the music school? What might the novel be saying about the different ways people can engage with the major social issues of their time?

3. Livia’s attempts to get an abortion in 1989 are derailed by misinformation from a protestor and a bomb threat at the clinic. What does her harrowing experience reveal about the societal and logistical barriers to reproductive healthcare? How do the challenges she faced compare to those that exist today?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. Kingsolver organizes the novel using musical vocabulary, with chapters titled “Prelude,” “Fugue,” and “Da Capo.” How did this structure, which mirrors a musical partita, influence your reading of Livia’s fragmented and then recomposed life?

2. What is the significance of Livia’s hands as a recurring motif? How do they symbolize her identity, her trauma, and her eventual healing as they transform from instruments of artistic genius to the tools of a teacher?

3. How does the notoriously difficult piano suite Gaspard de la nuit function as a central symbol in the story? In what ways does it represent Livia’s ambition, her affair with Sigurd, and her ultimate emotional liberation?

4. The freight train is a powerful image linked to the novel’s two great abandonments: Cyrus’s suicide and Sigurd’s departure to work on the railroad. How does this motif connect Livia’s personal grief with larger, impersonal forces of industry and ideology?

5. The novel’s narrative alternates between Livia’s present and her past. How does this dual timeline create suspense and deepen your understanding of her character? Can you think of another novel that uses a similar structure, such as Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, and compare the effects?

6. How did the late-novel revelation of her mother’s own thwarted artistic ambitions change your view of her as a character? Did you see her as a more sympathetic figure after learning her backstory?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If you were to create a soundtrack for Partita, what three songs or pieces of music would you choose to represent key moments in Livia’s life? Consider her time with Sigurd, the aftermath of her accident, and her quiet life with Charlie.

2. Livia’s mother hid Cyrus’s final letter to her for decades. Imagine you are the mother and write a short journal entry from the day you found the letter. What fears, justifications, or sorrows might have motivated your decision to conceal it?

3. If you could add one scene to the novel from another character’s perspective, whose would you choose and why? What might we learn from seeing a key event through the eyes of Charlie, Sigurd, or Mickie?