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kuporeads's review against another edition
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Miscarriage
Minor: Racism
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
The Great Divide is a literary character based novel which tells the interconnected stories of a largish cast of characters and is set against the backdrop of the construction of the Panama Canal. While I enjoyed the stories of the many and varied characters (different nationalities, classes, genders, races and perspectives) equally and loved the mosaic effect which their combination created it is true that the breadth meant there was not always a lot of depth. This didn’t bother me and I felt each character’s story arc was complete and satisfactory in its own right. I really enjoyed learning more about the construction of the canal, especially the socio-political issues surrounding it - things like worker’s pay, conditions and mortality, the strong connections between the construction and US imperialism, loss of land rights for indigenous peoples, and the blatant segregation highlighted by stores being classed as gold or silver according to who could shop there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Violence, Colonisation, and Grief
pomoevareads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
As the United States push their own commercial interests in the country of Panama to build the Panama Canal, the lives of those who live in the regions are deeply affected. A story of colonialism, racism, and greed is balanced with those of foreign workers, family, and love. The Great Divide is my second book by this author and I really enjoyed it.
The story dips in and out of the various people with interests in the region, those that have come from away to earn money for families and futures and those of the people who come from the land and don’t want to see their country literally ripped apart.
From the description of the book I expected it to be an adventure and historical narrative of the building of the canal itself. There is some of that but the focus is more on a few characters that are in the region at the time. Ada is there to earn money to help pay for a surgery her sister back home in Barbados needs. John and Marian have been invited to come as John is an expert in tropical diseases and wants to be part of the eradication of Malaria in the region. Omar and his father Francisco live in a small village where Francisco fishes daily, talks to his wife who is no longer with him, and where he discontinues speaking to his son Omar once Omar takes a job in the building of the canal. Valentina and Joaquin are spurred by a letter from her sister that the village where they grew up and where her sister still lives, is in danger of being taken from them for the building of a dam to support the canal. In addition there are several side characters who each play a role in the lives of these primary characters.
My only criticism of this book is that the depth with which we get to know the characters falls shy of coming away really knowing them enough to recognize them off the page.
Overall, I am glad to have this book in my collection and hope to read more by this author. The book is well researched and I came away knowing more than when I went in which is an accomplishment.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Colonisation
sarahyjackson's review
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Made me want to learn more about the construction of the Panama Canal - and I appreciated having, even fictional, a different lens into this history.
Largely though, the characters and their journeys felt kind of meh and forgettable to me?
Largely though, the characters and their journeys felt kind of meh and forgettable to me?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Miscarriage, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Sexual content and Slavery
bibliomich's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Arguably my favorite read of 2024 so far, The Great Divide falls within a genre that I usually find challenging: historical fiction. When reading historical fiction novels, I often find myself getting distracted by the factual elements in the stories (wanting to look up dates, events, settings, etc.), Cristina Henriquez adeptly weaves in important details about the construction of the Panama Canal in the early 1900s and its impact on surrounding communities, while primarily focusing on individual characters' narratives during this time. I was able to get totally swept up in the story while still learning enough about the context to understand what was going on. The cast is *vast* (I cannot emphasize this enough), and while I initially had to devote a lot of mental energy to keeping track of all the different stories, I also felt that each story was treated with such careful attention to detail that by the end of the book, I was truly invested in all of their stories, particularly the ways in which they overlapped.
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Medical content, Infertility, Classism, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Racism, Colonisation, Abandonment, and Miscarriage
befthhh's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
*I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
The Great Divide was an incredibly moving story. I knew very little about the tensions in Panama while the canal was being dug, and now I feel it is important to learn more. Learning about Panama through the eyes of multiple characters coming from different places and situations, and almost all of them suffering as a result of the canal being built, gave me a powerful emotional connection to the story. As a white American, I think it is vital to hear from the people and the descendants of people who were so brutally affected by U.S. colonialism and expansionism.
I won't even dare to try and determine which storyline was my favorite as all were so moving! Omar and his father, Ada and her mother and sister, Marian, they all touched my heart! And I loved how their lives intersected. It wasn't a perfect culmination where at the end they all found out they knew each other and fell in love and they lived happily ever after. It was the reality of sometimes a person is in your life for fleeting, but meaningful moments. I really enjoyed this book, and would absolutely read more of Henriquez's work, she is a beautiful storyteller.
The Great Divide was an incredibly moving story. I knew very little about the tensions in Panama while the canal was being dug, and now I feel it is important to learn more. Learning about Panama through the eyes of multiple characters coming from different places and situations, and almost all of them suffering as a result of the canal being built, gave me a powerful emotional connection to the story. As a white American, I think it is vital to hear from the people and the descendants of people who were so brutally affected by U.S. colonialism and expansionism.
I won't even dare to try and determine which storyline was my favorite as all were so moving! Omar and his father, Ada and her mother and sister, Marian, they all touched my heart! And I loved how their lives intersected. It wasn't a perfect culmination where at the end they all found out they knew each other and fell in love and they lived happily ever after. It was the reality of sometimes a person is in your life for fleeting, but meaningful moments. I really enjoyed this book, and would absolutely read more of Henriquez's work, she is a beautiful storyteller.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Racism, Colonisation, and Death
lyla's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The only fictional account about the Panama Canal and its construction that I've ever read - about the natives, the immigrant labor force, the white Americans, all coming to a head. I loved the characters, and the novel is heavily laced with characterization, very little dialogue, a lot of exposition. Henriquez's writing slides by, with such smoothness and wit, even when no action is really taking place. Depicts many complicated relationships and the way humans fall short.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, and Slavery
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