✨ Review ✨ The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez; Narrated by Robin Miles

Thanks to Ecco Books, Harper Audio, and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This is one of my favorite sorts of historical fiction books because:

1. It features a time and place I've never read historical fiction about -- the construction of the Panama Canal in the early 1900s

2. It has a few central VERY DIFFERENT characters that we come to fall in love with, including Ada, a teenager from Barbados who's come to Panama to find work so her sister can get surgery; Omar, a local working to dig the canal and his dad Francisco, a fisherman; and the Oswalds who've come from the Great Smoky Mountains to head up an anti-malaria campaign.

3. But then it spotlights the POVs and backstories of a cast of side characters including Ada's mom in Barbados, a doctor and overseer for the canal, the man who Francisco sells fish to and his wife who starts a fight to protect her family's village from the path of the canal, etc. etc. Some people will not like all of these "side-quest" style digressions but I thought it made such a rich narrative of what different people would have experienced in Panama at the time.

4. It has such a deep critique of colonialism in showing the ways that Americans and other foreigners literally dug up their country for American benefit. Some of the impacts included efforts to tame mosquito-borne illnesses (but often in invasive ways), dislocation of people and homes, literally digging up the land, creating a two-tiered system of labor and class circumstances (like was common in mining towns), setting up import taxes (and absurd imports like importing papayas even though they were already grown locally), the futility of Panamanian resistance, and so much more.

5. The historical research was stunning in creating a rich picture of life in this place and this time where tons of people of all sorts of backgrounds were coming together in this place.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: historical fiction
Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
Setting: approx. 1907 Panama and Barbados
Pub Date: March 5, 2024

It was the turn of the century, the Industrial Revolution was underway and shipping lanes—arteries of transport—were in great demand. Several countries tried and failed to create an abbreviated and safe passage joining the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The United States, never wanting to be surpassed, endeavored to try. After failing to negotiate terms with Colombia to build a canal in the Isthmus of Panama, the United States will later change strategies and backs the Panamanian people whose fervent desire is to be freed from Colombia’s control. In 1903, after three bloody years of war, Panama gains it’s independence from Colombia, with the assistance of the United States, and becomes a sovereign nation, but soon the nation will be divided once again.

In the Great Divide, Cristina Henríquez skillfullly manages to put flesh and bones on this historic period through the everyday private lives of an unforgettable cast of characters. We zoom in on the lives of a provincial town and find Francisco, a humble fisherman, who is wary of the interference of foreign powers in his beloved Panama and whose prophetic cries are ignored. Francisco’s son Omar, who grabs at the chance to break free from his lonely and sheltered life by becoming a digger in the excavation zone. The sixteen year old stowaway, Ada Bunting, who hearing of the opportunity of employment, journeys from Barbados to Panama in hopes of raising the money needed to pay for her sick sister’s surgery. There’s John Oswald a zealous researcher looking to eliminate malaria, when his wife Marian falls ill with Yellow Fever. It is through this diverse cast of characters, along with their eccentric friends and quarrelsome neighbors that we learn how the people were divided, struggled, triumphed and paid the human cost for this great achievement of civil engineering. Prepare to be transported to swampy marshes, lush rain forest and the crowded avenues of Panama. The Great Divide is for readers who enjoy little known periods of history, delight in the dynamics of small town life, but don’t want a heavy-handed approach to their reading experience.

Many thanks to the author Cristina Henríquez, @EccoBooks and @NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Great Divide" is a compelling novel that portrays the haves and have nots working on the construction of the Panama Canal.
It is an insightful historical novel full of tragedy, sacrifice and resilience.
I highly recommend this book.

I love a good historical fiction book and The Great Divide hit the mark! Henriquez’s book follows a multitude of characters as the Panama Canal is built. Even though there were many characters the author does an excellent job making them feel like individuals and not making the story feel cluttered. A must read!

This was my first book by this author and what beautiful writing in this book. It tells a historical fiction story set in the construction of the Panama Canal and how life was started/made for a bunch of characters. I did have to write down the names to keep track of the many characters, but it was all written so beautifully and meaningfully that I didn't mind. A very touching story of hard work, bravery and of course division.

I was happy to have a chance to read a book set in Panama at the time that the canal was being created since I knew absolutely nothing about it. Henriquez does a wonderful job of setting the scene and giving us a perspective of the work being done from a wide variety of viewpoints and diverse characters whose lives intersect just slightly, but significantly. It's rich in both detail and description, but never bogs down. A lovely read that invites both thought and discussion.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's unique and should gain a wide readership.

“What he saw as he stared across that vast chasm was not simply a canal, but a great divide that would sever Panamá in two.”

Extraordinary blending of stories that come together in a historical fiction focused on the digging of the Panama Canal. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! This book is vibrant (with a gorgeous cover to match!)… it shows not just the physical GREAT DIVIDE of the country to accommodate this engineering wonder, but DIVISIONS of social class, race, language, thought, families, and relationships. The author does a brilliant job taking disparate stories and weaving them together. I loved the imagery, the characters, the connections, the humor. Fans of Backman’s Anxious People will appreciate the humanity and interconnections. BRILLIANT!

And if you get a chance to listen to the audiobook, you will be treated to the FANTASTIC narration of the great Robin Miles… she is a master of dialect and switches between different accents effortlessly!

“Six years later the spine of the mountains was severed at last.”

THANK YOU #netgalley for the ARC!!
#thegreatdivide #cristinahenriquez

History is written by the victors, says the slogan but perhaps Cristina Henriquez can add a footnote on behalf of those the victors left behind, used, co-opted, bulldozed over, blasted through, displaced, or decimated in pursuit of its aims. The Great Divide is a fictional accounting of some of their stories, joined through the early 20th century construction of the Panama Canal. It is a fascinating blend of the voices of the rarely heard histories of the fisherman, maids, journalists, shopkeepers, villagers, and canal zone workers, as well as doctors, journalists, and their partners, amplified by the collective impact of these narratives. There is so much material here: tracing the journeys of those who came from various parts of the world, for very little pay, to work on this pinnacle of engineering and the inherent cruelty involved in its execution. The index of colonialism is revealed again as the Panamanians are relegated to secondary status in their own country.
It is a grand undertaking and many of the story lines could easily be fodder for a self-sustaining novel. This also is a slight drawback because Henriquez is covering so many characters, and overlapping plots that it is hard to do any of them justice. She also foreshadows some of their future fates but in a seemingly haphazard fashion. Still ,her efforts to breathe life into the past and to individuals and societies that would be overlooked and forgotten is quite admirable and her writing shows a great understanding for the complexity of political, ecological and human cost of the canal construction. It also displays a painful awareness and affection for those who made it possible. Recommended.

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez (3/5/24) Review Pub 3/1/24 4 Stars
Published by Ecco Books

This was my first book by author Cristina Henriquez. She has such a beautiful way of writing a historical fiction story about the Panama Canal and the effects it had on the local people. It was an in-depth multiple POV story. I did make a list of characters to track all of them. I enjoyed learning about a different side of this historical event that was so important. Overall, I enjoyed this story and the gorgeous cover to go with it! I would definingly recommend this book.

I had the honor of reading this ARC thanks to NetGalley, the author Cristina Henriquez and the publisher Ecco Books

The building of the Panama canal was the the greatest feat of engineering in in that time in history. It was also very divisive. People had to have their homes and livelihoods uprooted for the cause. Men came from all over the world to work on the canal, but it was back-breaking work that paid little. This book 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.

This book was in turns fascinating and heartbreaking. The condition those men worked in was unimaginable. Then there was the bigotry and segregation, with the gold housing and stores for Americans and the silver for everyone else. The characters in the books may not have all been real, but they were definitely true representations of the type of individuals that were there during this momentous occasion in history. If you are a fan of historical fiction, then you will definitely want to check this out.

Incredibly beautiful and atmospheric! A wonderful read for those who want to be transported in their reading. I wish it had focused on fewer characters and we had gotten into more depth with them. Instead, we get a lot of different characters involved directly or indirectly with the creation of the Panama Canal. Great for place setting, but I wanted to get to know these people more. They were more than just their relationship to the Canal. But, again, this was a deeper look at the human cost of building the Canal and how Panama traded their dependence on Bogota to dependence on the United States and how, not surprisingly, the Panamanians were treated as second class citizens in their own country by the colonizing whites. Perhaps this is why I wanted to know more about the individual stories? I felt like the book could have gone on longer. I didn't want to leave them!

Kudos to Cristina Henriquez for researching a little known historical undertaking by all who envisioned, helped build, or provided medical backup for the mosquito transmitted disease of malaria, in order to successfully cut through a segment of Mother Earth so that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans might be joined. It was the turn of the twentieth century, the heyday of the industrial revolution. The shipping industry needed a shortcut to transport merchandise. The US bought the construction rights from Colombia and began the task of creating the Panama Canal.

Ms Henriquez did her homework. In beautifully descriptive prose, the story of the people who accomplished this incredible feat unfolds in such depth of character and setting that I felt was alongside each one as s/he labored to make the dream a reality. There are many many characters, at times making it difficult to keep track of who was who. And yet as the story unfolded I found myself transported in time and place to stand beside each person whose voice rang loud and clear.

There was a Panamanian father, a fisherman, who did not want his son involved in the debilitating labor that would literally rip his country apart. There was the girl who traveled from Barbados to earn enough money to ensure that her sister receive life saving surgery. There was a scientist whose dream was to eradicate the mosquitoes spreading malaria, and his wife,who must come to terms with their worst fear becoming reality. So many more characters appear, each with hopes and dreams that bring them to Panama. Some paths intersect and affect each other’s journeys Some simply have their own perspectives and story. Put them all together and what results is a panoramic, evolving painted picture of humans undertaking a superhuman task.

The Great Divide , as a phrase, has multiple meanings. Not only is the land divided, but so are families, races, economic classes, and ultimately the divisiveness of colonialism. This was an intriguing, and important book which provided me with historical facts and perspectives tied together with personal narratives that enhanced my reading experience. Four stars for a dynamic tale told beautifully, I wish the significant number of characters were less confusing. Nonetheless, it was a solid enjoyable four star read from cover to cover. Publication date is a week away, March 5, 2024. If you love historical fiction that leaps off the page you’ll want to read this. Many thanks to NetGalley and Ecco publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction novel! I knew next to nothing about the Panama Canal and I really enjoyed this sweeping cast of characters and learning more about that time peroid!

It's true that beyond the main characters, many secondary people were added as well. But I didn't find it difficult to follow, and I would call this a grand historical novel that is best told through the stories of many people. The Panama Canal has not been addressed much in fiction, at least within the circle of what I have read, and this was a refreshing and fascinating topic. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Very involved plotting surrounding a brief portion of the time building the Panama Canal linking a professor studying malaria, workers at the Canal Zone from Panama, the US, Barbados, Bermuda and beyond, as well as natives who work in their homes. Also involving the town required to relocated for the placing of a damn and how all those lives were affected by the work and the environment of the Zone. Beautifully written. For fans of historical fiction.

Thanks to Ecco for the copy of this book!

I love expanding my historical fiction reads, and the construction of the Panama Canal was something I’d never read about before. I love the distinct picture that was portrayed about “The Great Divide” - a physical manifestation of social and class systems of the time. This book was also a great reminder that people lived on the land before the Panama Canal was there, and they were displaced. However, there were a LOT of characters and storylines, and it took me a while to connect with them, and I didn’t really feel like they connected very well with each other. So overall, good themes, but a slow-moving and complex story.

3.5
I was so intrigued to read about the construction of the Panama Canal in the early 1900's. This book covered a few aspects surrounding the canal such as the actual building of it, a doctor sent to the area attempting to eradicate malaria and a young help-meet from Barbados. All of these people and thousands more flock to Panama in an effort to make money and seize opportunity.

The topic was fascinating, but overall not focused on as much I would've liked. I found it difficult to connect with the characters with the constant shifting of POV's along with a background of each of them which added a lot more to keep track of regarding people. By the end of the book I realized I had no real care for the individuals in the book, nor was I overly informed on the details of the canal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the advance e-copy of this book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.

There was a wide cast of characters, and it was excited to see how they all interacted with each other. That being said, there were too many characters. I feel like it took half the book to meet them all before we saw them overlap.

I wish there was more plot propelling this book, rather than character relationships driving the story. It read like a "slice of life" story except of course set during the building of the Panama Canal.

I’ve read a lot of historical fiction and this felt a bit different from the rest as it weaved together many stories and cultures colliding in Panama at the turn of the century when the Panama Canal was built. It was beautifully written and engaging and highlighted several of the challenges of the times - racism, poverty, the spread of disease, and how the country was divided over one of the biggest industrial feats of all times. A very worthwhile and enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this novel. This is well-researched historical fiction about the building of the Panama Canal. The story is told from the point of view of several characters, all with very different roles in the building of the canal and very different backstories. This structure made the novel feel more like nonfiction. Because there were so many points of view, there was less characterization and more description of
logistics and the community that was built around the canal. I found it to be dry but others will prefer this type of novel.