Review: The Great Divide

The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While overall I did like this story, I wasn’t blown away. 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.


Book rating: 3.25 stars


Thanks to Ecco, Harper Audio and NetGalley for an advance audio review copy of this book.


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