The Island of Sea Women

Product Information

I know from reading the author’s note how much research was involved in this story. Before I even read how this book came about, the feeling I had was of Lisa See doing her always-exceptional historical and current research, and visiting the places she wrote about in person, but also listening to the stories of various people who remembered the period of time covered in this novel. Then, taking all of the history and the stories and stirring them with her imagination, Lisa See wove this fascinating, tragic, and utterly absorbing story.

I was spellbound the moment I entered the vivid and little-known world of the diving women of Jeju. Set amid sweeping historical events,The Island of Sea Women is the extraordinary story of Young-sook and Mi-ja, of women’s daring, heartbreak, strength, and forgiveness. No one writes about female friendship, the dark and the light of it, with more insight and depth than Lisa See.”Originally, diving was an exclusively male profession. By the 18th century, women divers outnumbered the male divers. Lisa See creates a panorama showcasing these young women as they perfect their newly found occupation. But just as these women test the uncertainties of these waters, Lisa See goes into the dark depths encasing the relationship between Mi-ja and Young-sook. There will come the day when both women will face an unspeakable horror. A snap decision, a gut-wrenching choice, and the suffocating aftermath will haunt each of them for many, many years. As they grow to form partnerships, they experience sorrow and sadness. For not only are they under the duress of their diving but they as living on Jeju island where they are undergoing the realities of the times. From the Japanese control through World War 2 and the Korean War, their lives are hanging in the balance of conflict and hardship. The two fast friends experience so much sadness and through circumstances of the times, they grow apart and become estranged from each other. Their friendship breaks apart as each girl experiences her own personal hell. Yet, each one survives to see change, to see a world so different from the one they knew, to see that life and friendship often go on to an end that is blessed with a final understanding as a place for peace of the heart, mind, and soul. I really didn’t know much about the history of Korea leading up to North and South Korea . I didn’t know what the Bukchon massacre was or the strategic importance of Jeju, or the political significance that resulted in some horrific things that happened here. The strength of the book for me was the depiction of this history, learning things I never knew of, about a culture and a country I didn’t know a lot about. I found it to be a very worth while read, as I have found with all of the books by Lisa See that I have read. In the aftermath of World War II, the nation of Korea is divided by the United States and the Soviet Union along the 38th parallel. The politics leave the island of Jeju in upheaval as islanders want to decide their own elections, rather than just accept South Korea’s government. The accusations of communism promote a crusade of atrocities that were so difficult to read about that I had to take breaks from the story. Mi-ja and Young-sook are caught up in a tragic situation that sews the seeds for hurt and anger. Can a friendship with such depth survive? We expect the most of our deepest and truest friends. Is it ever too much?

If you're interested in modern Asian history this makes for an engrossing read. Not only does it tell of the fascinating lives of the traditional haenyeo, or diving women who harvested fish and seafood on the Korean island of Jeju, but it also describes the political eruptions that affected their lives during Japanese occupation and later the Korean war, ultimately leading to the violent Jeju Uprising in 1948 where anywhere up to 60,000 people were killed and another 40,000 fled to Japan. Political turmoil and upheaval eventually sets their lives on a different course and one of the girls commits an unforgivable act that severs the relationship for decades. I loved the themes of friendship, betrayal, guilt, and forgiveness that these two women embodied. No one does complex, powerful female friendships quite like Lisa See, and there was a strong theme of female relationships among the families and diving collective. There is nothing better than a well researched historical fiction novel. This book was extensive in its detail of the fictional lives of its two principal protagonists Mi-Ja and Young-Sook. It was was a book seeped in detail, filled with sorrow, and the ideal of friendship, and although hard to conceptualize at times, the things these women endured, it was a riveting story of strength, valor, and fortitude. Korea's IMTV Hatches Multi-Season Series Based on Lisa See Novel 'The Island of Sea Women' About Matriarchal Society of Free Divers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. October 8, 2022. Forces external to these women will test their friendship. Will their forged bond be enough to keep them from splintering apart?I appreciated the historical aspect of this book and learning about the Haenyeo. I found the culture of the diving women to be fascinating as was the fact that these women were the chief bread winners in their families. “Haenyeo were Korea’s first working moms,” said Koh Mi, an editor at the Jeju newspaper Jemin Ilbo and a participant in a nine-year research project on the sea women. “They were a symbol of female independence and strength in Korea.” I read in one article published in 2014 that in 20 years, most of the Haenyeo will be gone.

This book spans decades, following Japanese colonialism of Korea in the 1930s and 40s, World War II, the Korean War, and the present day. This film documents a day in the life of a 12 year old Korean girl, learning to dive as a haenyeo on the island of Jeju. This novice diver is of the last generation that will engage in this vocation, and serves as an important historical document.The characters have lived through Japanese colonialism, the Sino-Japanese War, World War II, the Korea War, the 4.3 Incident, and the Vietnam War. How do these larger historic events impact the characters and island life? I liked learning about a vocal practice the women did called “Sumbisori”. It’s a breathing technique used by whales and seals. The diving women practiced too as it allowed them to dive deeper below sea level.

This story is about friendship, family, motherhood, womanhood, and being honest with yourself and your heart. It is told on an epic scale by the amazingly talented Lisa See. Lisa puts her heart and soul into capturing the true essence of Asian history across her novels, and this one even blew the beloved Snowflower and the Secret Fan out of the water. She definitely felt this one to her core and let that come out to her readers. The research that went into this story is amazing. My only - ‘slight’ - criticism was the fictional story. It was ‘fair’ for me. Good...just not over-the-top extraordinary. Doesn’t really matter - as I got what I wanted from this book - An awakening to new history .... which I’ll still be interested in - years from now. Lisa Sea gave me ( and I believed), other readers a great gift with “The Island of Sea Women”. The Haenyos are BEAUTIFUL WOMEN - inside and out......with AMAZING PHOTOS that can be found online. The older women are women, I would enjoy sitting with sharing tea.....( get to know them more).Then in Young-sook’s peripheral vision she glimpses another family group. They aren’t dressed alike, and they don’t look alike. The husband is white, the wife is Korean, and the children—a small boy and a teenage girl—are mixed. Young-sook can’t help it, but seeing those half-and-half children makes her uncomfortable: the boy in shorts, a superhero T-shirt, and clunky tennis shoes, the girl in shorts that barely cover what they’re supposed to cover, earbuds plugged into her ears, and wires trailing down over her barely-there breasts. Young-sook guesses they’re Americans, and she watches warily as they approach. I feel badly, like I missed something and if I did, please feel free to comment. I think the writer wanted Mi-ja to be forgiven but I just could not because I did not understand why she did what she did in the first place. We edged closer to the flames and stripped off our clothes. No one showed any inhibitions. This was like being together in the communal bath. Some of the younger women were big with babies growing in their bellies. Older women had stretch marks. Even older women had breasts that sagged from too much living and giving. Mi-ja’s and my bodies showed our age too. We were fifteen years old, but the harshness of our environment—little food, hard physical work, and cold weather—meant that we were as skinny as eels, our breasts had not yet begun to grow, and just a few wisps of hair showed between our legs. We stood there, shivering, as Yu-ri, Gu-ja, and Gu-sun helped us put on our three-piece water clothes made from plain white cotton. The white color would make us more visible underwater, and it was said to repel sharks and dolphins, but, I realized, the thinness of the fabric would do little to keep us warm.