The Great Divide

Last week, Cristina Henríquez released her new novel, The Great Divide. Set in 1907 in Panama, it highlights the various working class people who were part of the building of the Panama Canal and those who were affected by it.

Special thanks to Harper Audio, Ecco, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Review

The Great Divide is written in a unique format, following a wide array of characters whose lives eventually intersect, no matter how subtly. The first several chapters introduce these characters: a teenaged girl from Barbados looking to make money to pay for her sister’s life-saving surgery; a teen boy who’s at odds with his dad but wants to make his own way in life; a couple from Tennessee there to study mosquitos and malaria; a Panamanian couple whose hometown will be forcibly moved to make way for the new canal. As the chapters progress, readers get glimpses of other characters, some whom we’ll only know for a few paragraphs, others who will get entire sections to illuminate their backstories.

I went into this book expecting it to be more focused on the construction of the Panama Canal, but it went in a rather different direction. It’s character-driven, and only one of the main characters is working on the canal’s construction. Most of the characters are somewhat peripheral to it, though still greatly affected by the influx of Americans to Panama. There are jobs to be had, but also new forms of bigotry and control against Panamanians. While this book had a different focus than I’d anticipated, I still enjoyed it and found it fascinating to learn about the kinds of people who don’t make the history books.

There is a lot of emphasis on family relationships and on forging your own path. Both of the teenaged characters have minds and goals of their own, regardless of what their parents may want for them. Ada is perhaps my favorite here, a young woman who loves her mother and sister and will do whatever she can to help fund the surgery her sister needs. She’s smart and hard-working, and she doesn’t let others get her down. Omar is another great character, a daydreamer who wants something different than his fisherman father. He and his dad, Francisco, have a strained relationship, owing mostly Francisco’s frustrating immaturity and stoicism.

There are plenty of characters and events that may inspire anger while reading. Some characters are despicable (such as Miller and the French doctor), and the fact that the entire town of Gatún needs to be relocated—thus displacing the many families living there—is disheartening to read about. Even so, this novel creates a richly drawn and nuanced look at so many different ways the Panama Canal impacted people in Panama and those from surrounding areas.

Audiobook

Robin Miles does an excellent job of narrating The Great Divide. Her voice is a perfect balance of soothing and engaging, and she does a wonderful job of depicting the different accents the characters have: from Panama, Barbados, Tennessee, and more. She juggles the numerous characters well, making the audiobook easy to follow and immersive for the listener. 

Final Thoughts

The Great Divide unfolds like a tapestry, one in which some characters and plot lines intersect and others stay just out of each other’s reach. It offers an unexpected look at a piece of recent history and the lives that were affected by the Panama Canal. This is the first novel I’ve read that is set in Panama, and my first time reading Cristina Henríquez, and I’m eager to explore more books like it.

Get the Book

You can buy The Great Divide here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez
Audiobook Narrator	Robin Miles
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Fiction
Setting	Panama; Barbados
Book Length	12 hours; 336 pages
Format I Read	Audiobook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	March 5, 2024
Publisher	Ecco; Harper Audio

Official Summary

A TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick!

A powerful novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there

It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection.

Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man—Omar—who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid.

John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice. 

Searing and empathetic,The Great Divide explores the intersecting lives of activists, fishmongers, laborers, journalists, neighbors, doctors, and soothsayers—those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course.

Named a Most Anticipated Book By:  Washington Post * Book Riot * Electric Literature * LitHub * ELLE * The Millions * Goodreads * Reader’s Digest