Behind the Scenes
Two recent books take a look at something we usually don’t notice or even think about. For example, if you have taken a cruise through the Panama Canal, you were certainly in awe of the engineering feat that made this artificial waterway and its series of locks possible. After all, the canal is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. BUT, did you stop to think about the people that constructed the Panama Canal? Probably not because the immensity of the structure itself is overwhelming. The author of The Great Divide, however, wrote a novel about the people that history often forgets–the people whose lives intersected around the building of the Panama Canal. Christina Henriquez has received critical and popular acclaim for her book that is a Read with Jenna selection.
“The Great Divide joins novels by Julia Alvarez, Sandra Cisernos, and Gabriel García Marquez in deepening the people’s literary history of Latin America. Henríquez is a master of prose whose enchanting words capture the landscape. . . Henríquez is equally adept at showing the diversity and complexity of her characters….[T]he book’s ambition is undeniably valuable: This is about the intimate lives of people who are often forgotten, dismissed and willing to sacrifice body and soul to provide a better life for their loved ones.” — Washington Post
Another book that does something similar is Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman. Waldman’s book focuses on those that work behind the scenes in the ‘big box’ stores–the people that earn very little with few benefits, get up at 3:00 in the morning to unload a truck, and then backbreakingly and persistently place product on the shelves so that you and I can find what we want at the grocery store or Home Depot. We may or may not see them; but, if they didn’t show up for work, our lives could be severely disrupted! Waldman spent six months working in a big box store so that she could take an authentic approach to the subject, and she does so with satire and dark comedy. In The Guardian, May 13, 2024, Kevin Powers reviews Help Wanted and writes, “It’s a funny novel, as well as deeply humane and very angry.” It’s certainly different and could be just what you need to read right now!
