I found this to read almost like individual short stories following each character and their connection to the canal that slowly reveals their connection to each other. The history, which I knew almost nothing about - was quite interesting.

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.

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 read the ebook and listened to the audiobook. Narrator Robin Miles does a fantastic job of portraying so many characters from different cultures with different accents. The whole audiobook production is well done.

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

“The Great Divide” by Cristina Henriquez and narrated by Robin Miles is a book that takes place in the early 20th century in Panama at the time of the construction of the great Panama Canal. I admit that while I of course know about the canal, I knew very little about the history of its construction or of how people’s lives had been torn apart because of it. All I had been taught in school was about its great engineering feat. This book made history come alive for me, and as fiction always does, helped me feel for the people at that time. However, I felt that there were perhaps too many characters in this ambitious story. As I was listening to the book and not reading it, I often felt confused—especially in the first ¼ of the book. I really needed to have a list of characters, which is often found in hard copies of books. Apparently, there are some supplementary materials available on the publisher’s website to help readers, but it would be good if they also included a cast of characters. I understand that the writer wanted to show just how big the project of building the canal was and how so many lives were changed with it, but I might have enjoyed the book more if there were fewer people in it and their stories were told in more depth. The narrator was fabulous and got me through my confused moments.
Thank you Net Galley and the publisher of an ARC of this novel. Despite its shortcomings, I am really glad I read it.

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.

The Great Divide

Cristina Henríquez’s new historical novel opens at the beginning of the 20th century, as land vanishes and two oceans converge during the construction of the Panama Canal, reshaping the lives in the region forever. Against this vivid backdrop, Henríquez crafts a realistic, colorful and ambitious mosaic of individual stories.

At first I found the myriad of characters (as many as 15 characters reappear regularly) and their backstories a little overwhelming, but eventually a few characters stand out and we see how their paths intersect around the work on the canal. I didn’t mind that there wasn’t a single plot, because each character follows their own trajectory, adding richness to the story, and eventually the narrative threads are tied up—sometimes a little too neatly for my taste—in satisfying ways.

I had a particularly soft spot for the resourceful Ada Bunting, a young stowaway who comes to the booming Panama to find work to support her sick sister's surgery, her dignified mother Lucille back in Barbados, and the embattled and mournful Francisco Aquino, a Panamanian fisherman who resents the U.S. intervention in his country and is disappointed that his son, Omar, joins the digging of the canal. We also meet laborers, foremen, doctors, cooks, scientists, maids, shopkeepers, journalists, fish mongers, mailmen, tenant farmers and activists in a grand social and political panorama.

I would recommend The Great Divide for readers who enjoy beautifully written and ambitious historical fiction set in a region and period not often highlighted in American fiction. I could see this book on the 2024 National Book Award or the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize longlists!

4/5 ⭐️

I listened to the audiobook, a flawless emotional narration by Robin Miles who made each single character stand out thanks to her expert range of accents and speech patterns. Many thanks to Harper Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook. But I would also recommend a copy of the book to keep track of who is who, and I am grateful to Ecco Books for sending me a review copy. Thank you!

This book covered an often overlooked event in history, the building of the Panama Canal. Many people from all over the world relocated to Panama hoping to take part in the prosperity that would flow from this undertaking. The audio version of this just did not work for me. The narrator was fine but there were so many characters and so many stories that I had difficulty weaving them together to form a cohesive whole. If I had been able to binge listen, I think I might have fared better. Listening in short snippets didn’t do justice to the work. I also think a paper copy is the way to go with this one. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this ALC.

Read via audiobook - thank you NetGalley

“The Great Divide” tells the story of how the construction of the Panama Canal affected multiple lives. It follows multiple characters, which I cannot even say how many because there were too many to keep track of. I found myself lost during some chapters where we started off following one character but then out of almost nowhere it felt we switched to someone new for a couple paragraphs. I wish that the author would have stuck to one specific story to tell or narrowed it down. I really enjoyed reading the story of Gatun and how it affected this town that was eventually displaced. I wanted to read more about the main characters’ relationships with their families and understand them better.

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.

The audio is expertly narrated by Robin Miles and her voice adds great flavor to the text.

The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez is a historical fiction novel about the building of the Panama Canal in the early 1900's. The story is being told through the three main characters Ada, a 16-year old girl from Barbados, who is traveling to Panama in order to make money to save her sister through surgery. There is John Oswald, a scientist from the US who wants to eliminate malaria, and Omar, the local son of a fisherman, who is helping to build the canal.
The author is adding a lot of characters throughout the book. They are mostly family members of the three main characters, but also people who are not significant to the story line. There are a lot of background stories where I didn't see the connection to the story or to the decisions the characters made, but I do like stories about families, so it didn't bother me too much. I would have rather heard more about the building of the canal, though, as the author obviously did a lot of research on it.
The author is very descriptive, and at times I felt like I was able to picture exactly what she was describing. It may be easy to make a movie out of this book.
At times I caught myself to be slightly bored, as I would have preferred to deal with less characters, but learn more about the main ones. But since this was the first novel about the Panama canal for me, I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. The narrator's reading style brought the text to life, and her voice is distinct enough to differentiate between the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review

The audiobook helped in my reading experience. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and the narrator was great at creating different voices. I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience and will recommend this to students who are looking for historical fiction that is about a time period that many of them know nothing about.

Historical fiction is not my most read genre, but I do enjoy it when the time period and subject matter is something I’m not too familiar with. I love feeling like I’m learning while being entertained.

The Great Divide takes place in the early 1900s during the building of the Panama Canal. We learn all about the history between Panama and the United States, and how the economic greed of both countries led to the construction of the canal. People from all over flocked to Panama for the promises of riches and adventure. This resulted in a permanent affect on global commerce and the Panamanian culture.

In order to convey how far-reaching the affects were, Henríquez has us follow well over a dozen characters to tell this story. Some Panamanian, some (North) American, some Caribbean. Unfortunately, there were too many characters with too many timelines that the story never felt rich to me. I wish Henríquez had chosen just a few story lines and really delved into them. I feel like I would have been more invested in everyone if there were fewer people to keep track of.

Ultimately I’m glad I read this book because I enjoyed learning about this time and place in history. But it’s not one I felt myself craving to jump back into.

📖 Book Review 📖

🎧 "The Great Divide" by Cristina Henríquez

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Published March 5, 2024

Thank you @netgalley for this audiobook

I learned so much about the Panama Canal and those that believed in making such an amazing feat of engineering.

There were so many characters and I found it hard to keep track- Francisco, a local fisherman whose son Omar works as a digger during the excavation phase.
Traveling to Panama from Barbados teenager Ada Bunting is seeking work to send home to her sick sister. And John Oswald a scientist determined to stop malaria. While these are the 3 main characters, their stories are woven along with many others that made this far fetched an idea a reality. I enjoyed the book but at times got stuck in the details. I feel maybe I wasn’t in the best headspace to appreciate the details of this story.

#somanybooks #readsomemore #audiobooks #bookstagram #bookrecommendations #readersofinstagram #readmorebooks #booklover #bookishlove #readersgonnaread #bookishaf

The Great Divide is a fascinating historical novel that traces the history and building of the Panama Canal. Through the voices of a number of individuals, the reader comes to understand the way in which the construction of the canal was so exciting to some, and so very devastating to others. The prepotence of the United States juxtaposed with the poverty and need of the Panamanians and others who came from afar to work is all highlighted.

I listened to this book and the truth is that there are numerous characters and situations, which were a lot to hold in my mind without any reference. For this reason, I think that reading the physical copy of this book may be a better option.

I knew very little about the history of the Panama Canal, and this book illuminated so many aspects of life at the time, as well as the lasting historical repercussions on Panama. Thanks to #netgalley for the review copy.

I enjoyed reading about the building of the Panama Canal. This book gives a good overview about what life was like during this period. It helps you understand the disruption that it brought and the effects of Malaria.

I’m torn with how I felt about the structure of the book. There were a lot of characters to keep straight and each chapter delved into a different perspective. Some of the chapters felt distracting from the book but over I thought it was good for people that like historical fiction and want to read about a different part of history.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this audiobook.

This historical masterpiece sent me back into time when I first heard of the Panama Canal in grade school. Over two decades later and this novel brought that fascination full circle. History made on the backs of the PGM population. Robin Miles narration engulfed me into the site sounds of smells within those lines. This was such a great entertaining audio-booking experience. #TheGreatDivide #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for an advanced listener copy of this book.

I DNF'ed The Great Divide at 20%. I primarily read fantasy, but I really liked the description of this book and knew about the author's past work.

Personally, I did not continue with this book for a few reasons. The audiobook narrator is very good at voicing distinct characters, but the accents for different characters made me uncomfortable. I'm sure it could help other listeners to engage with the story, but the "Island" accents put on for the Black characters soured my experience. I didn't get deep enough in to the book to comment on plot, but really did want to see how all the story lines ended up connecting.

If you like multi-generational, multi-character historical epics, I think you will like The Great Divide.

Interesting historical fiction about the building of the Panama Canal. Mostly highlighted how it affected peoples lives and how people were forced to move.

I absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed the characters and their stories and how it all came together. I found the history of the Panama Canal fascinating. I had never given much thought to the intricacies of what it took to build this canal. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in historical fiction.

Thank you Harper Audio and Netgalley for this ARC. #HarperAudio #NetGalley

As an avid reader, it's rare for me to come across a book that I genuinely struggle to enjoy, but unfortunately, The Great Divide falls into that category. From the very beginning, I found it difficult to connect with the characters or the storyline. The plot felt disjointed and lacked depth, leaving me feeling disconnected and uninterested in what happened next.

I found The Great Divide, by Cristina Henriquez, on a short list of most anticipated novels of 2024. I don’t like to get shut out when a book gets this much buzz; then there’s the added draw of an unusual setting. The U.S. doesn’t see a lot of fiction published that’s set primarily in Panama during the early 1900s, and so that sealed it. My thanks go to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the review copies, both audio and digital. This story lives up to the hype, and I recommend it to you.

I am not so sure about it at the outset. There is a robust quantity of characters that are important to the story, and each of them is given a brief chapter all to themselves. I wonder whether they will ever intersect, or if this will turn out to be a collection of short stories, but before much longer, characters are meeting other characters. They don’t all end up together in the end, but we can see the ties that have formed. There are a lot of people to keep track of, and for me, having both the print version and the audio is tremendously helpful. Robin Miles narrates in a way that is natural and fluid, and I don’t notice much of what is around me when I listen to her. But once in awhile a character is mentioned and I draw a blank; here is where the Kindle version is essential, because I highlight the names of each of the characters, and this enables me to instantly flip back to where they were introduced to us without having to stop listening. Eventually, of course, I no longer need to do so, but knowing that I can makes for stress-free reading.

I am engaged with these characters, each of whom feels real to me, and I groan when I see them get into trouble, and sigh with relief once they are in the clear again. The ones that I care about most are a father and son that are estranged from each other, neither wanting to stay that way, yet both of them incorrectly interpreting the silence of the other. As we reach the climax, I can tell there are three ways for this situation to resolve: they can reconcile; one of them can die; or the son can decide to follow another character back to the U.S.A. without reconnecting with his dad. It only now occurs to me that there was a fourth possibility, which was to leave them still estranged at the end; but by this time, Henriquez had shown herself to be a better writer than that, and while I won’t tell you how they wound up, I will say that she didn’t leave her readers dangling.

Because this is an intricately woven tale with a lot of equally important characters, I’m not including any quotes, but I will say that Henriquez is a talented writer, and anyone that loves good historical fiction should get this book and read it. This applies even more so to those interested in Latin American history and the building of the canal. I hadn’t read her work before, but she’s on my radar now, and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.