Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme that was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners but is now currently being hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog. This meme is quite easy to follow – just randomly pick a book from your to-be-read list and give the reasons why you want to read it. It is that simple.

This week’s book:

The Great Divide by Christina Henríquez

Blurb from Goodreads

An epic novel of the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there, by Cristina Henríquez, acclaimed author of The Book of Unknown Americans

It is said that the canal will be the greatest feat of engineering in history. But first, it must be built. For Francisco, a local fisherman who resents the foreign powers clamoring for a slice of his country, nothing is more upsetting than the decision of his son, Omar, to work as a digger in the excavation zone. But for Omar, whose upbringing was quiet and lonely, this job offers a chance to finally find connection.

Ada Bunting is a bold sixteen-year-old from Barbados who arrives in Panama as a stowaway alongside thousands of other West Indians seeking work. Alone and with no resources, she is determined to find a job that will earn enough money for her ailing sister’s surgery. When she sees a young man—Omar—who has collapsed after a grueling shift, she is the only one who rushes to his aid.

John Oswald has dedicated his life to scientific research and has journeyed to Panama in single-minded pursuit of one goal: eliminating malaria. But now, his wife, Marian, has fallen ill herself, and when he witnesses Ada’s bravery and compassion, he hires her on the spot as a caregiver. This fateful decision sets in motion a sweeping tale of ambition, loyalty, and sacrifice.

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.

Why I Want To Read It

Happy Monday everyone! That is if anyone finds Mondays a happy occasion. I am pretty sure most of you don’t. “Most” includes me. Thankfully, after a contentious week at the office, I am on holiday today until Thursday. I am currently in Indonesia, the first time I have traveled to the world’s largest archipelago nation. Today has been exhausting as my friend and I had a sleepless night. After a sleepless four-hour flight to Jakarta from Manila, my friend and I went directly to Bandung, a three-hour bus ride; we were not able to sleep during the trip. Despite this, we proceeded to tour around the environs of Indonesia’s third-largest city. It was a memorable day indeed.

Which reminds me. Today is the last Monday of the second month of the year. I hope that February has been kind to everyone. I hope that the year has been great. I hope and pray that the rest of the year will be brimming with good news and blessings. More importantly, I hope everyone is doing well, in body, mind, and spirit. Officially kicking off another blogging week is a fresh Goodreads Monday update, an integral part of my blogging week as it sets the tone for the rest of the week. Reading-wise, 2024 is on its way to becoming yet another prolific reading year. Despite some slumps, I am now reading my 22nd book of the year, Yu Miri’s Velvet The End of August. But before I get lost in a sea of words, let me return to this post.

Like the three most recent Goodreads Monday updates, this week’s featured book is written by a writer whose body of work I have yet to explore. While searching for books to include in my 2024 Books I Look Forward to List, I encountered Christina Henríquez. I have never heard of her before nor have I encountered any of her works. While she is an American by nationality, her father was a Panamanian immigrant. I guess this is important in establishing the nature of her latest novel, The Great Divide, a book that explores the history of the construction of the Panama Canal. I also learned that The Great Divide is her third novel, and her first since 2014 when she published The Book of Unknown Americans (2014).

What piqued my interest in The Great Divide is the subject it explores, hence, its inclusion in my 2024 Books I Look Forward To List. I have watched a couple of documentaries about the Panama Canal and I have also read snatches about it. However, I can’t recall reading a novel about it. Moreover, I can’t remember if I have ever read a work by a writer with Panamanian heritage. This also presents an opportunity to explore the oeuvre of a writer I am unfamiliar with. The book is about to be released on March 5. I just hope I get to be able to obtain a copy of the book; so far, of the ten books in my 2024 Books I Look Forward To Lists, I was able to read just one, Leo Vardiashvili’s Hard by a Great Forest.

How about you fellow reader? How was your Monday? What books have you added to your reading list? Do drop it in the comment box. For now, happy Monday and, as always, happy reading!