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A review by lory_enterenchanted
The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
4.0
At first there were a lot of characters to keep track of, but then their stories started flowing together and wove into a rich tapestry of life in Panama at the time of the canal construction. In spite of some sad and violent events, some of the story threads that I expected to evolve in a dramatic way had rather a gentle ending; one might consider them a bit anticlimactic, but I appreciated the hopeful trajectory. At the same time, the book did not shy away from portraying much abusive and exploitative behavior that took place in the course of the canal building, and that clearly is still an issue for all humans today.
"The great divide," with its immense physical symbol in the unprecedented digging of a channel across a continent, is a metaphor for the divides between and within people, the gulf that we dig through being disconnected from our deeper selves and our longing for true communion with one another. In various ways, all the characters had to deal with such a divide, and came through it, usually to some degree of healing. It's a story that cannot be told often enough.
"The great divide," with its immense physical symbol in the unprecedented digging of a channel across a continent, is a metaphor for the divides between and within people, the gulf that we dig through being disconnected from our deeper selves and our longing for true communion with one another. In various ways, all the characters had to deal with such a divide, and came through it, usually to some degree of healing. It's a story that cannot be told often enough.