March 2025 Book Club: The Great Divide by Cristina Henriquez

Very excited for this month as we have a table reserved at Sobre Mesa. According to the restaurant's website, the name Sobre Mesa means “over the table” and is a reference to what you do after the meal, once the hunger has passed and real conversation can begin.

Seems like the perfect spot for a book club discussion....plus, I ❤️ tapas :)

ABOUT THE BOOK

A TODAY Show Read With Jenna Book Club Pick!

A powerful novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there
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.