The Great Divide
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3.4 • 19 Ratings
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
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
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This historical novel transports you to 1900s Panama, putting a human face on the superhuman effort to cut a path between the world’s oceans. Hoping to find work, teenage Ada stows away on a ship crossing from Barbados to Panama. But when she disembarks, she’s immediately surrounded by the chaotic construction of the Panama Canal. Soon her life becomes entwined with those of a visiting doctor, his ill wife, and a local fisherman bitter about the treatment of the locals. Author Cristina Henríquez draws on meticulous research to create a deeply compelling ensemble of characters. The way narrator Robin Miles smoothly switches between voices and accents makes all the rich historical detail feel lived in and immediate. If you like historical fiction that organically weaves issues like race, class, and imperialism into a story that’s first and foremost about a place and its people, The Great Divide delivers.
Customer Reviews
Beautifully Read
The reader made this book a pleasure to listen to, and I whipped through it. The stories of the many involved in Panama at the time the canal was built got me interested in that project as well as its many societal implications. At times I paused to look up information about the construction lof the canal.
Each character came to life for me. This was due to the excellent writing and the reader’s skill with accents as well as intonation. My only disappointment was with the conclusion, though I’m not sure why I feel that way. The author tied up many loose ends, and it was not terribly bleak, yet the ending still seemed somewhat abrupt and left me with a feeling that some was missing.
Unbearable Reader’s Voice
The reader’s voice is unbearable. It’s as if she’s reading a children’s book. It’s too bad, since I’d love to listen to the book, but I can’t take the condescending voice.