A River Divided follows Evelyn, a geneticist and amateur archeologist, who discovers a tomb while vacationing in Israel. Believing she has found the remains of Christ, she attempts to revive the DNA found preserved at the site so that she can clone Him. But with human cloning being both illegal and unprecedented, she takes the risk of carrying the embryo herself. Though more a scientist than a zealot, she wants to do everything to bring Him back to the world. If her experiment were successful, the consequence could be the salvation of a dying Earth.

The result of her daring discovery is the birth of identical twins Christopher and José, who are raised apart and unaware of each other's existence- one in the affluent suburbs of Sydney and the other in the slums of Buenos Aires. As different artists would sculpt different statues from the same block of marble, different environments produce different characters out of the same DNA. The twins are destined to clash, adversaries in an almighty battle for the Amazon. Science and idealism are woven together in this novel about the search for meaning, for love, and for an understanding of what is important for us both as individuals and as actors in the environment.