Chinese-American author Lisa See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. Her latest novel, The Island of Sea Women, is set on Jeju island, off the coast of South Korea. It tells the story of Young-sook and Mi-ja, two friends who are part of the haenyeo, or diving collective, on Jeju. Jeju is a semi-matriarchal society, focussed on the women who do the physical work of diving and tending the fields while the men raise the children and cook dinner. The haenyeo are a close-knit group of strong women who can free dive up to 30 metres and withstand cold water temperatures for hours. They are trained to watch out for each other, listening for each woman’s distinctive sumbisori, or exhalation breath song, when she breaks the surface.

Young-sook and Mi-ja are best friends from age 7, despite Mi-ja being somewhat an outcast as her father was known to be a Japanese collaborator. The two are inseparable until a violent traumatic event tears them and their families apart.

The story begins in 1938 when the island is under Japanese occupation and many men have been conscripted to fight for the Japanese or work in their factories. Later follows the 4:3 incident or Jeju uprising in 1948 when up to 60,000 people were killed and another 40,000 fled to Japan in harsh reprisals for protesting against the division of Korea and the upcoming election. The election was held by the United Nations after the removal of the Japanese occupiers, but was only to be held on US controlled territory. The US installed a dictator, Rhee Syngman, who was a staunch anti-communist, in South Korea. His regime ruthlessly suppressed opponents who protested, asking for democratic elections, killing thousands on Jeju alone. The US were present, and if not directly responsible, certainly did not intervene to stop the brutality. The details of the uprising were suppressed by the South Korean government until an apology in 2003 for the massacre.

The story shifts between Young-sook and Mi-ja’s life on Jeju in the 1930s to 1950s and Young-sook’s meeting with an American family in 2018 when she is in her 80s. The story begins slowly but becomes more engrossing as it progresses. The events on Jeju are heartbreaking and it is hard not to shed a tear for Young-sook and Mi-ja. A worthwhile story that provides a fascinating insight into Jeju culture and history. ( )

I very much enjoy Lisa See's books, especially Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, and I enjoyed this one also, but it's not her typical story. Who doesn't love reading about something new that they've never heard of before? I'd never heard of the haeneyo women of Jeju Island in S. Korea and their remarkable diving prowess. That and their matrifocal culture were interesting enough, but See also throws in the '4.3. Incident', which of course none of us learned about in school history because it was a criminal act to even speak of it until 2003. This book is chok full of new information that had me turning pages into the wee hours. (warning: about 2/3 of the way into the book are very graphic scenes of torture inflicted upon the Jeju people by the government. You can page through them without really missing anything of the story, as the events are summarized in subsequent chapters.) ( )

This book was the choice of my book club. It is probably not a book I would have picked up on my own, but it turned out to be a good one. It tells the story of the women divers of Jeju, a Korean island. It starts in the 1930's when Korea was occupied by Japanese colonizers and continues to 2008. The culture of Jeju island was unique and "matrifocal," where the mother was considered the head of the household. Due to unusual historical circumstances, the women were the ones who went diving for seafood, the work that supported their families. It was difficult and dangerous work.

At the heart of the story is the friendship between two of the women, and the events that happened to break the friendship. We also see the progress of history and the world events that affected the island. It begins with the hated Japanese colonizers who are eventually replaced by mainland Korean and American occupiers after WWII. As much as the Japanese were despised, the post-war era is worse, with much unrest, fears of communism, and persecution of opposition leading to a massacre, known as the 4.3 Incident, which is a turning point for the story. We see how modernization impacts the unique culture of the island and how a way of life is lost. This story of lost culture is different from what we usually see, where colonizing Europeans disrupt native American/Eskimo culture or, as in the case of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Africa. In this case, it is their countrymen, Koreans from the mainland, who are the primary agents of the change.

Lisa See does a beautiful job of showing us the way of life on Jeju and the relationships between the women and their families. There are a number of tragedies that befall the inhabitants of Jeju, and some of this is difficult to read. But the story was very engrossing, and I learned about a place and way of life that I had no idea existed. ( )

I borrowed this book from my local library. It's a book club read for April 2024.

Haenyeo are the sea women of Jeju Island, a large isle off the coast of South Korea and near Japan. They are deep sea divers, a role traditionally given to women in the matrifocal society: the women are seen as physically superior in the water and therefore earn the family income, while men tend to the children and do housework (and often seem to become alcoholics). This book follows two best friends in a small village as they grow up in the 1930s and 1940s. Marriage and the Korean War bring devastating events to their families, tearing the two women apart, but the narrative continues up to the present day, when the haenyeo numbers are greatly diminished and regulated.

The subject matter of this book was absolutely new to me, and fascinating. I'm not so fond of books about drama between people who just aren't paying attention, so I found that frustrating. The book goes quite dark as it addresses atrocities during the Korean War--it truly depicts the horrors of war. I was disgusted, but unsurprised, to discover America's role in it.

I wouldn't have picked this up if not for the book club, and I feel like I learned a lot. ( )

Lisa See consistently writes stories about women and their family struggles while also providing a history lesson about events I was not aware of. This heartbreaking novel not only tells about strong, independent women divers in Jeju Island but also how history can drastically affect both families and friendship. I definitely recommend it; be forewarned that it is a tear-jerker. ( )