Seattle Latinx Bookclub - The Great Divide

This month we'll be discussing Cristina Henríquez's most recent novel, The Great Divide. An epic novel of the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there. As always, our number one priority is creating comunidad. So please feel free to attend even if you didn't get a chance to finish the book this month.

Nos vemos pronto!

Where to find the book

You can find a copy of their book on Bookshop.org here

Purchase through Estelita's Library's Bookshop.org storefront, and you'll support Seattle's local Black/Brown-owned justice-focused community bookstore & lending library.

You can also find the book at Seattle Public Library in print, ebook, and audiobook formats.

About the Book

It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. A novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, following the intersecting lives of the local families fighting to protect their homeland, the West Indian laborers recruited to dig the waterway, and the white Americans who gained profit and glory for themselves

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.

About the Author

Cristina Henríquez is the author of four books, including, most recently, The Great Divide, a novel about the building of the Panama Canal that explores those rarely acknowledged by history even as they carved out its course.

Her novel The Book of Unknown Americans was a New York Times Notable Book of 2014 and one of Amazon’s Top 10 Books of the Year. It was the Daily Beast Novel of the Year, a Washington Post Notable Book, an NPR Great Read, a Target Book of the Month selection, and was chosen one of the best books of the year by BookPage, Oprah.com, and School Library Journal. It was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

2025 Meeting Dates & Book Picks

• , Iris Morales
• , Saraciea Fennell & Various
• , Camila Sosa Villada
• , Cristina Enriquez
• , Yesika Salgado
• , Vincent Tirado
• , Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
• , Cristina Rivera Garza
• , Aja Monet
• , Isabel Cañas
• , Deborah Miranda

Host or Publisher Seattle Latinx Bookclub