The Great Divide

The Great Divide (2024) is a historical novel by Panamanian American author Cristina Henríquez. It is Henríquez’s fourth book, following Come Together, Fall Apart (2006), The World In Half (2009), and The Book of Unknown Americans (2014). The Great Divide details the lives of a group of Panamanians during the years of the construction of the Panama Canal. In part because historical accounts of the canal project have focused primarily on the statesmen, diplomats, architects, and managers of the project, Henríquez set out to create a portrait of the ordinary people who worked on the canal and those whose lives were impacted by its construction. Through writing about the interplay between wealthy, white outsiders who descended upon the country during the canal’s construction and Panama’s largely Black and brown populace, Henríquez explores themes related to The Negative Impacts of Imperialism, Racism and the Legacy of Enslavement, and Grassroots Resistance Against Oppression in the region.

This guide refers to the 2024 hardcover edition by Harper Collins.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss racism, enslavement, and baby loss.

Plot Summary

The novel unfolds in chapters that alternate between the stories of a handful of individuals, some local and others outsiders, living and working in Panama during the construction of the Panama Canal. It opens with fisherman Francisco Aquino, a local, Panamanian man who opposes the canal project and whose son Omar has recently taken a job working on its construction. It then introduces Ada Bunting, a teenage girl from Barbados who travels to Panama to find work, and John and Marian Oswald, a white American couple who move to Panama so that John can take a position with the local board of health working to eradicate malaria in the region. Back in Barbados, Ada’s mother, Lucille, is trying to raise funds so that her other daughter Millicent can undergo a costly surgery. In the Panamanian town of Gatún, Joaquín and his wife Valentina are fighting the government to save their village, which has been ordered to relocate because of the planned path of the canal.

John and Marian have been in Panama for eight months by the time the action of the novel begins. John is a public health official and Marian, although an educated scientist in her own right, is relegated to work in the home. The two have a difficult marriage, and Marian in particular has not been happy in Panama. Upon arrival, they were struck by Panama’s underdevelopment, and Marian finds life in the country confining, advised as she has been by her husband to remain inside as much as possible to avoid contact with the hordes of mosquitos that carry a host of tropical illnesses. John aims to eradicate malaria in the region, and although he has a keen intellect, he struggles socially. The couple, although treated with deference because of their status, retain something of an outsider status. When Marian falls ill, their situation becomes even more strained. After witnessing Ada saving a young man’s life in the street, John hires her to work as Marian’s nurse. Marian and Ada find that they have a strong work ethic, determination, and intelligence in common, and the two strike up a friendship.

Omar, the young man whom Ada saved after he fell ill with malaria and passed out in the street, struggles in his construction job. Although he enjoys the camaraderie that he finds on the job site, their foreman, Miller, is a cruel and prejudiced man. The workers are routinely mistreated and exploited, and Omar even witnesses a coworker collapse and die from overwork on the site. Omar’s relationship with his father Francisco is strained because of Francisco’s objection to Omar’s work on the canal, and although the two continue to cohabit, they have stopped speaking to each other.

Joaquín and his wife Valentina, local Panamanians, are also struggling. Joaquín has been losing money at the fish market where he sells his wares, and Valentina is preoccupied with government plans to move her home village of Gatún to make way for the canal. They travel from their home in the capital to the village in order to speak with her friends and family about the proposal, and Valentina decides to stay and fight the relocation orders in any way that she can.

In the Oswald house, Ada experiences mistreatment at the hands of the resident cook Antoinette, but she perseveres and begins to send home money. Her mother has been trying desperately to raise enough money to pay for Millicent’s pneumatic lungs to be drained of excess fluid, and Ada knows that she needs assistance. Lucille does not want to enlist the help of the girls’ father, Henry, because he is married, white, and her former employer. Although the two had their children in secret, Henry’s wife is aware of the relationship between her husband and Lucille, and she has always harbored resentment.

In Gatún, Valentina begins to go door to door to ask the townspeople if they have been ordered from their homes. After a meeting with a large group of her friends and neighbors, it is decided that the town will stage a protest in hopes of gaining publicity for their plight and putting a stop to the project.

Back at the Oswald house, Marian’s condition worsens. In the absence of the doctor, she dies as Ada is on a desperate errand to obtain anti-fever medication, and the doctor, Antoinette, and ultimately even John blame Ada for Marian’s death. Ada tries her best not to despair. As she is out collecting flowers for Marian’s funeral, she runs into Omar. He recognizes her as the girl who saved his life, and the two quickly become friends.

In Barbados, Millicent’s condition worsens, and Lucille is unable to pay for her surgery. Desperately, she reaches out to the girls’ father Henry. Although she is turned away by his wife, Henry’s foreman does send a doctor who is able to help Millicent. All of this unfolds without Ada’s knowledge; however, realizing that she will soon be let go from her position in the Oswald home, Ada prepares to return to Barbados. After one more meeting at Marian’s funeral, Ada and Omar say goodbye, sad to be parting forever but happy to have made one another’s acquaintance.

The townspeople in Gatún stage their protest, and because word of it has spread, it is a large gathering. Although they are not successful and the town is indeed moved to make way for the dam, their act of resistance unites the townspeople and fills them with pride. Omar attends the event and realizes that the Panama Canal is a more complex and fraught project than he had previously thought. He softens in his position toward his father, who, missing his son, also manages to set aside some of his anger. They reconcile and resume their life together. At home in Barbados, Ada begins working with the doctor who cured her sister: She has finally found an outlet for her independent spirit and curious mind.

The novel ends with John Oswald watching as the first ship passes through the Panama Canal. He has not yet managed to eradicate malaria, but he remained in Panama after the construction of the canal to continue his public heath work. Omar has enrolled in a preparatory course for teachers. Life moves on for everyone.