Requested THE GREAT DIVIDE because of the gorgeous cover, but stayed for the story! As someone who loves historical fiction, it's always nice to get a story that takes place in a time period that you don't know much about -- and that was definitely the case here. I learned so much about the history of the Panama Canal during this read and I loved it.

Definitely will recommend to readers that:
- enjoy historical fiction
- like multiple POVs

I really enjoyed this book. It seems to be more common lately for books to be written in this structure: different characters are telling their stories in the chapters, and there is a link between them that you begin to see. I liked getting all the perspectives from different characters, as well as learning about some of the history of the building of the Panama Canal. I would have liked even more history, as one of my favorite things about historical fiction is learning about events I had little or no knowledge about. Easy to read, well written (the chapter where Francisco goes down into the canal building was beautifully written and so poignant).

As momentous as the construction of the Panama Canal was at the time, I feel like it is a relatively overlooked piece of history. Even more so, the characters and viewpoints that Christina Henriquez highlights in this novel are certainly not the stories that have typically been told. That being said, this novel brings life to a unique part of history through the perspectives of the most overlooked, yet in most cases most central, people in that history. Henriquez tells these narratives through well developed characters, as she weaves together their stories. I really liked the perspective and history that this fictional novel was able to provide and I would recommend this book to all readers, but especially fans of historical fiction.

Henriquez has written a fabulous book, packed with riveting characters who represent the variety of people responsible for building (and protesting) the Panama Canal. Having researched the country during era Henriquez covers, I read the novel with heightened interest. Henriquez's facts are accurate, and more significantly, she has captured the spirit of the place and time. She ties up some of her subplots to just the right extent toward the end of the novel, resisting the urge to tie up everything perfectly. I particularly appreciated her modest but effective use of magical realism--enough to add a distinctive voice but not so much that it becomes a deterrent to readers like me.

A moving portrait of a historical event you don't see often in novels, The Great Divide is beautifully crafted. Book clubs are going to want to jump on this—there's a lot to discuss. There are a lot of characters, but readers will be truly captivated by them and invested in their lives.

The Gread Divide A historical fiction novel centered around the building of the Panama Canal starting in 1907.

The Great Divide is a historical fiction novel centered around 3 main characters:
Omar-a 17 year old who leaves home despite his father's wishes to build the canal and his fisherman father, Francisco.
Ada Bunting, a young girl from Barbados, who leaves behind her mother and medically fragile sister in need of surgery to get on a ship to go to the Panama area for work in hopes of sending the money back to them.
A husband and wife from Tennessee who go to the area for the scientist husband to study malaria.

Positives:
Well developed storylines that eventually all connect together
A satisying conclusion
I learned a bit about the area and time period that I did not know before

Negatives:
I did not learn a lot about the building of the structure and the area.
There were a lot of characters to keep track of which is not necessarily a bad thing but just something to be aware of. I had them all written down.

I think most people will be divide on the rating and feelings on this one. Overall for me it was an enjoyable read but it was lacking that extra something special. I enjoyed the various storylines and points of view but it won't be a standout.

The Great Divide was my first book to read by Cristina Henriquez. I had read so many great reviews about the book that I was anxious to read it for myself. Henriquez definitely did a massive amount of research bringing this story to life. I enjoyed the characters and the historical setting.

3.5 rounded up. This novel brings welcome attention and perspective to a significant historical event - the creation of the Panama Canal and the US's related interventions in Central America. Characters from a variety of countries came together for a huge and frequently deadly project; one of the books strengths is including the great variety of motivations and challenges they each faced. I especially appreciated the brief overview of Panamanian nationhood and how it was impacted by other countries' motives.
The flip side of having so many diverse perspectives is that the book sometimes gets bogged down in the number of characters and their backstories. Some who wind up being instruments of the plot unnecessarily get as much interiority as some main characters. This would be a stronger story if that was streamlined and essential elements of different actors were shown instead of told.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

The focus of this historical novel is on the people who built the Panama Canal not on the technology. I greatly appreciate writers, like Henriquez, who transport us to a different place and introduce us to believable characters. Workers came from all over the world to build the Canal and hopefully make their fortune, which would be defined by those individuals in very different ways. There are several story lines and they intersect and inform one another. ‘The Great Divide’ is a beautifully constructed work, which left me with a much deeper understanding of the dangers and pitfall of ‘progress’ and the price ordinary people sometimes pay. This is an excellent book club selection. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper for an advanced readers copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

It’s 1907 and the Panama Canal is under construction. While this massive creation is the background, and the literal divide in Panama, it’s the stories and characters that Henriquez writes that metaphorically demonstrate the different divides we might encounter in life. The divides between life and death, happiness and grief, trust and betrayal and more are illustrated by Ada, Omar, Francisco, John, and more.

The story takes a while to get started, and there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but readers will still get a lot out of the writing.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced review copy.

This was a beautifully written story about the lengths people will go to protect themselves, their family, and their culture in the face of colonialism. While I do believe this was very tame in the sense that no one REALLY got in trouble for their actions, it was still important to see such strong Cental American, Black, and Carribean people. It was really cool to see how so many character's independent lives intertwine to tell this story. The author did a great job making each character's voice extremely different, making the reading experience easier since it jumps around between them. She also did a great job with the setting, I have never been to Panema but the descriptions of the country were obviously written with such love and care for detail.

The Great Divide is a great Historical Fiction novel that takes place during the creation of the Panama Canal. I love that Henriquez writes about a period of time not conventionally written about in historical fiction. The book's format is a portrait of everyday people and how they connect to the building of the canal.

You will love this novel if you are a fan of character driven stories. My favorite character was that of Ava Bunting an 16 year-old stowaway who traveled from Barbados to Panama to find work to raise money for her sick sister's surgery.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this great novel.

4.25 stars

I picked this one up because I know nothing about how the Panama Canal came to be. I thought it was going to be more about the building of it but this one captured the people that were around it at the time and their struggles instead. So not quite what I had hoped but still an okay read.

Not one to remember geography, this book was THAT good that I looked over several maps to find the Panama Canal. The Great Divide is about several unrelated characters that travel to Panama to begin work on the Panama Canal. Each person was from different areas of the world, had nothing in common except for the build of the Panama Canal. The stories all intertwined. The book was an easy read. The author was able to make each person standout and never once, did I become confused over who was who. I'd never really thought about the Panama Canal, malaria, mosquitos and rehousing people and villages. Interesting and exciting times. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary digital ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

Thank you to Net Galley and Ecco for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.. I have never thought much about the creation of the Panama Canal so I was very interested in reading this historical fiction book. We join the story as the creation of Panama Canal is being talked about and outsiders start coming to the area. We learn of the people who live in the area who lives will be forever changed by the the canal - moved from their homes to make way for the canal, disputes within families of those who want to make money working on the canal but contribute to the end of that way of life, racism of those who live in the area as well as those who come to work there, and the idea of those who live in the area are not Americans as defined by the US. There were a lot characters and I kind of wished that the author had just focused on a few to tell the story. The read was interesting from a historical point of view and that history doesn't really address all those who were negatively affected by the canal but I thought the story was lacking in telling a compelling character-driven perspective. Yet overall it was worth the read. 3.5 stars

The Great Divide is set in Panama during the building of the canal. It is definitely character-driven, but there are so many characters it is sometimes a bit confusing. I had hoped for more information about the actual building of the canal, but this book focuses on the back stories of people from varied cultures and countries who came together to build the canal or support those who did. I was more interested in some stories than others. Although it wasn't what I expected, this book does a good job of showing the effect the building of the canal had on the locals and the way they were treated by people coming in, especially from the U.S.

The pace of the story is slower than I usually like, but the work it must have taken to develop so many characters is admirable.

One aspect I hadn't really considered is the towns that were erased due to the building of canal, and this book explores that issue very well.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Panamá comes alive in Cristina Henríquez’s THE GREAT DIVIDE (#gifted). Most slot the Panama Canal as a marvelous feat of engineering, but its nascency and construction, the workers who built it, the land excavated to make way for its presence, the dreamers it drew from all corners of the world—all of this is also part of its complex history. This was my first time reading Henríquez’s work, and I was absolutely stunned by the historical detail and the ensemble cast of characters whose lives so intricately wove together. There is an American scientist, intent on solving the problem of the mosquito. There is a girl from Barbados who comes to Panamá to earn money for her sick sister. There is a Panamanian teen, lonely in the shadow of his mother’s death and his father’s grief, searching for community. There are the headstrong people of a village about to uprooted to make way for the canal. There are the workers, working towards dreams, even as many of them succumb to the dangerous conditions of the canal’s construction.

In a book with so many characters, some do stay with you more than others—for me, it was the storyline of Ada, Lucille, and Millicent Bunting. I don’t remember all of the characters, but what Henríquez has definitely accomplished in THE GREAT DIVIDE is leaving us with a feeling, that the history and people are sprawling and rich and definitely need to be remembered.

Thank you Ecco Books for the gifted copy! THE GREAT DIVIDE just came out on March 5; find it at your nearest independent bookstore.

I found there were too many characters and not enough depth. While the backdrop is building the Panama Canal, we actually don’t see very much of it in the story. (Okay, there is the digging, but this really is not the focus.)

Instead the story is about the people in Panama at that time, and their personal story. Many people went there because of the this grand project, while a few people are locals. For those Panamanians their story helps to highlight the changes to their country.

In the novel, a few of the characters have some resolution to their immediate problem, but for others we don’t have that, instead only to infer. One character introduced very late in the book has no resolution and makes me wonder why was that person there anyway? Perhaps that is nitpicking, but that felt like the author was trying to be all encompassing and the book would be stronger less.

It’s the early 1900’s and the United States has decided to open up Panama by digging a canal through the country, thereby connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific. The French had tried a similar endeavor in the 1880’s but gave up. Now, the U.S. will renew the plan to create a shipping waterway connecting the two oceans to facilitate the movement of goods and people from one side of the county to the other.

Here we follow a number of people on the different sides of the effort. There’s a poor Panamanian fisherman who sees the work as detrimental to his country. His son, on the other hand, sees an opportunity to make money. Other locals are distressed to hear their entire town will be relocated and are very displeased. Many of the workers on the dig are from the Caribbean Islands or other depressed areas. One young island girl comes to earn money to pay the medical expenses of her ailing sister. To them and others who can’t find work in their own countries, the building of the canal seems like a boon.

On the other side, there are those who are profiting from the hard labor of the poor. There’s a foreman who delights in pushing his men beyond endurance. There’s a medical expert who comes to make his mark if he can find a cure for malaria. Ava, the island girl who gets hired by the doctor, has a family at home who are also victims of the wealth divide. Her mother is raising her two daughters on her own while the wife of the wealthy plantation owner strives to keep her in her place.

There are two divides that are the focal point of the novel. One is the physical land barrier that needs to be hewn in two to allow ships’ passage. The other is the societal divide between the rich and the poor, the powerful and the those without power. Today the world looks back with relish on the engineering marvel of the Panama Canal. But Henriquez delves into the underbelly of the human cost to the residents, the workers and the towns.

The characters are well-developed and the simplicity of their lives is a stark contrast to the Americans and the white property owners who keep them in their place, at the bottom of the social ladder. The residents and workers must comply or pay the steepest price. For some the cost may even be forfeiting their very lives. A powerful, riveting story that shifts the focus from awe at the marvel to shame at the human toll.

I was looking forward to reading The Great Divide because Cristina Henriquez's previous novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, really impressed me, and a novel about how the construction of the Panama Canal affected a range of characters sounded like a compelling read.

Henriquez introduces us to young Ada Bunting, who has run away from her home in Barbados to earn money to pay for her sister's desperately needed surgery. Francisco is a fisherman who objects to the United States tearing apart Panama, literally and figuratively (previous attempts to build the canal, such as by France, were failures). But his son Omar disobeys him and gets a job working on the digging crew, both to earn money and to get out of his tiny village. John Oswald has come from the United States to work on a cure for malaria. Yellow Fever has been eliminated, but malaria remains a dread disease and it must be stopped or slowed if the canal is to be built. So we have four characters whose experiences will give us a variety of perspectives into this project which will change Panama and the world.

The Great Divide starts off strong as it moves among the characters and sets the scene. But before long the narrative begins to feel like interconnected stories rather than a novel. Henriquez provides extensive backgrounds on each character that detract from the early narrative momentum. The writing is strong and the characters are interesting, but Henriquez takes too long to weave the various plot strands into a unified story. I found myself becoming impatient with what seemed like digressions from the main plot.

I think many readers would enjoy this book, as long as they don't mind a slower, more character-based story. For me, it ultimately end up being disappointing, a missed opportunity. I'd give it a B/B-.