diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2079155..4482db3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -304,6 +304,36 @@ class Point:
         ordered = True
 ```
 
+### Partial Loading
+
+The `.load` method of a `marshmallow_dataclass` schema can not be used to load partial data.
+This is because `load` always wraps the deserialized data in the target dataclass type,
+and it is not possible to partially construct a dataclass.
+
+However `marshmallow_dataclass` schema now provide a `load_to_dict` method that can be
+used to deserialize data with `partial=True`.  `Load_to_dict` works just like
+the plain `marshmallow.Schema.load` method. It returns the deserialized data as a `dict`
+(or a list of `dict`s if `many=True`) — no construction of dataclasses is done.
+
+```pycon
+from marshmallow_dataclass import dataclass
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Person:
+    first_name: str
+    last_name: str
+
+
+>>> Person.Schema().load_to_dict({"first_name": "Joe"}, partial=True)
+# => {"first_name": "Joe"}
+
+>>> Person.Schema().load({"first_name": "Joe"}, partial=True)
+# => Traceback (most recent call last):
+#        ...
+#    TypeError: Person.__init__() missing 1 required positional argument: 'last_name'
+```
+
 ## Documentation
 
 The project documentation is hosted on GitHub Pages: https://lovasoa.github.io/marshmallow_dataclass/
diff --git a/marshmallow_dataclass/__init__.py b/marshmallow_dataclass/__init__.py
index c7b1e0a..b7c57ae 100644
--- a/marshmallow_dataclass/__init__.py
+++ b/marshmallow_dataclass/__init__.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class User:
 import threading
 import types
 import warnings
+from contextlib import contextmanager
 from enum import EnumMeta
 from functools import lru_cache, partial
 from typing import (
@@ -733,6 +734,28 @@ def field_for_schema(
     return marshmallow.fields.Nested(nested, **metadata)
 
 
+class _ThreadLocalBool(threading.local):
+    """A thread-local boolean flag."""
+
+    def __init__(self, value: bool = False):
+        self.value = value
+
+    def __bool__(self):
+        return self.value
+
+    @contextmanager
+    def temporarily(self, value: bool):
+        orig = self.value
+        self.value = value
+        try:
+            yield self
+        finally:
+            self.value = orig
+
+
+_disable_magic = _ThreadLocalBool(False)
+
+
 def _base_schema(
     clazz: type, base_schema: Optional[Type[marshmallow.Schema]] = None
 ) -> Type[marshmallow.Schema]:
@@ -746,12 +769,20 @@ def _base_schema(
     class BaseSchema(base_schema or marshmallow.Schema):  # type: ignore
         def load(self, data: Mapping, *, many: bool = None, **kwargs):
             all_loaded = super().load(data, many=many, **kwargs)
+            if _disable_magic:
+                return all_loaded
             many = self.many if many is None else bool(many)
             if many:
                 return [clazz(**loaded) for loaded in all_loaded]
             else:
                 return clazz(**all_loaded)
 
+        def load_to_dict(
+            self, data: Mapping, **kwargs
+        ) -> Union[Dict[str, Any], List[Dict[str, Any]]]:
+            with _disable_magic.temporarily(True):
+                return self.load(data, **kwargs)
+
     return BaseSchema
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_load_to_dict.py b/tests/test_load_to_dict.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..817ffd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_load_to_dict.py
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import dataclasses
+import unittest
+
+from marshmallow_dataclass import class_schema
+
+
+class Test_Schema_load_to_dict(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_simple(self):
+        @dataclasses.dataclass
+        class Simple:
+            one: int = dataclasses.field()
+            two: str = dataclasses.field()
+
+        simple_schema = class_schema(Simple)()
+        assert simple_schema.load_to_dict({"one": "1", "two": "b"}) == {
+            "one": 1,
+            "two": "b",
+        }
+
+    def test_partial(self):
+        @dataclasses.dataclass
+        class Simple:
+            one: int = dataclasses.field()
+            two: str = dataclasses.field()
+
+        simple_schema = class_schema(Simple)()
+        assert simple_schema.load_to_dict({"one": "1"}, partial=True) == {"one": 1}
+
+    def test_nested(self):
+        @dataclasses.dataclass
+        class Simple:
+            one: int = dataclasses.field()
+            two: str = dataclasses.field()
+
+        @dataclasses.dataclass
+        class Nested:
+            x: str = dataclasses.field()
+            child: Simple = dataclasses.field()
+
+        nested_schema = class_schema(Nested)()
+        assert nested_schema.load_to_dict({"child": {"one": "1"}}, partial=True) == {
+            "child": {"one": 1},
+        }
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()