The Island of Sea Women

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Yu-ri giggled at our shivering, telling us that eventually we’d get used to being cold all the time. “Four years ago, I was just like you, and now look at me,” she boasted. Lisa Sea brought awareness to devastating historical events that were essentially kept secret for years - Japanese rule, resistance, and retaliation. A riot spread like a forest fire..... Through the eyes, hearts, and experiences of two young girls who mature and grow into women with their own families, we are transported seamlessly between the past when they were younger, through and into a time 70 years onward. The culture and history of Jeju Island is both tragic and triumphant.

Over the years, Young-sook and Mi-ja endure together the loss of parents, the dramas of marriage and childbirth, cruel family members, disruptive technological advances, and the ever-present dangers that accompany their livelihood. They also face growing unrest from the political turmoil that surrounds their homeland: Japanese occupation gives way to World War II, the Korean War, and its aftermath, leaving the residents of Jeju caught between warring empires. The daughter of a Japanese collaborator, Mi-ja will forever bear the mark of her father’s activities, while Young-sook looks poised to inherit her mother’s role as the leader of her village diving collective. As their husbands’ political ties and tumultuous world events threaten their friendship, Young-sook and Mi-ja see their remote island and everything they have known upended. In The Island of Sea Women, there’s an expectation that a daughter should follow in her mother’s footsteps. Did this surprise you? Discuss how common you think it is even today for daughters to follow in their mothers’ footsteps—personally or professionally. Yet they survive and as times change and their families grow, they learn that what they once had was something special, something that they alone could hold claim to, something the world and the sea made them become. Young-sook and her best friend Mi-ja grow up together in a small village on the South Korean island of Jeju. They are destined to be best friends forever, through learning to dive, getting married and having their first babies. But life doesn't always work out how you want it too. We follow these women's lives through World War 2, the Korean War and into the present, where modern amenities are taking over from the old way of life from Young-sook's youth. It is a beguiling book, no doubt about that. I think the word "Beguiling" fits Island of Sea Women perfectly. And I have read books as dark as this one many times over although the darkness and the violence comes very early in this book.I couldn’t help but blush. My mother didn’t have a lover, but this was a much-beloved song and all the women liked it. You know going into a Lisa See novel that the depth of research into her subject is remarkable. When reading a historical fiction book, I need to trust that the author has his or her facts correct and doesn’t play loose with the truth. And that is exactly what we get with this author. Todo ello lo conocemos a través de dos haenyeo, dos amigas desde su infancia hasta su vejez, vemos el efecto de la ocupación japonesa en Corea, la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la llegada de los americanos, nuevas guerras, dictaduras y verdaderas masacres que van a sufrir durante muchos años en toda Corea. The novel spans decades, and includes the Japanese occupation of the island in the ‘30s and ‘40s, WWII, the Korean War, the communist insurgency, and the April 3, 1948 uprising that led to deaths in the tens of thousands. The horrendous conditions and the brutality were often difficult to read, but the history is important for us to know. Your body will know what to do,” Mother said reassuringly. “And even if it doesn’t, I will be there with you. I’m responsible for every woman’s safe return to shore. I listen for the sumbisori of all woman in our collective. Together our sumbisori create a song of the air and wind on Jeju. Our sumbisori is the innermost sound of the world. It connects you to the future and the past. A single sumbisori allows girls like you to serve her parents and then her children.”

Consider reading Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which follows a lifelong friendship between two women in 19th century China. Compare this friendship to the friendship between Young-sook and Mi-ja. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." (Mother Teresa) Mi-ja finally gets up the courage to ask Young-sook’s mother if she could be taught how to dive and join the collective. The women feel sorry for her but she is still tainted as a Japanese collaborator, however they teach her the ways of the “Haenyeo” and she joins them. Breathing in, breathing out. Every beginning haenyeo worries about this,” Grandmother blurted before my mother could answer. She could be impatient with Mi-ja. She wrapped an arm around Do-saeng, who then expressed her worst fear. “What if she doesn’t wake up?”Pretend Mi-ja is a baby,” Yu-ri told the Kang sisters, “and tie her into her suit.” Then to me, she explained, “You can see that the sides are open. You fasten them together with the ties. This allows the suit to tighten or expand with pregnancy or other types of weight gain or loss.” She leaned in. “I long for the day when I can tell my mother-in-law that my husband has put a baby in me. It will be a son. I’m sure of it. When I die, he’ll perform ancestor worship for me.” Learning of Korean culture, Haenyeo culture and Jeju history through the fictional tales of these two women was compelling. I loved all the knowledge that Lisa See was able to compact into this book. This was a much needed and capturing read, both vivid and empathetic. It has alighted a curiosity in me to learn more about Haenyeo culture. I often don’t care if the history is perfect. If I’m enjoying the story and the characters, I’m simply enjoying the book.... but this time the HISTORY was my favorite. Father ladled the thin millet soup that he’d prepared into bowls. I loved him. He had Grandmother’s narrow face. His long, tapered hands were soft. His eyes were deep and warm. His callused feet were almost always bare. He wore his favorite dog-fur hat pulled down over his ears and many layers of clothes, which helped to disguise how he sacrificed food, so his children could eat more. Mother, never wasting a moment, joined us on the floor and nursed my baby brother, who was barely a month old, as she ate. As soon as she was done with her soup and the feeding, she handed the baby to my father. Like all haenyeo husbands, he would spend the rest of the day under the village tree in Hado’s central square with other fathers. Together, they’d look after babies and young children. Satisfied that Fourth Brother was content in Father’s arms, Mother motioned for me to hurry. Anxiety rattled through me. I so hoped to prove myself today. This was a bit of a slow moving read for me, probably because there were so many characters and so much detail about a multitude of things.

I also felt for Young-Sook. Yet could not make myself like Mi-ja. It was interesting because one of the main theme's is forgiveness but I just couldn't. Originally I had thought I would not finish this but the book called to me. I did read it and was moved. And I cried. 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. Set on the South Korean island of Jeju, under Japanese occupation when the narrative begins this novel investigates the enigmatic and traditional collective of haenyo - groups of women who deep sea dive with rudimentary equipment while their husbands stay at home looking after the children. In other words, we have a role reversal here. The novel focuses on the deep friendship between Young-Sook and Mi-Ja, a friendship which will be broken asunder when civil war breaks out and Korea enters the darkest period of its history. The history of the island between the years of 1930's to the 1950's is also shown in this book, having the characters suffer through tragedy, uprising and killings. Lisa See did a wonderful job researching this book and shared how she approached her research in her Author's note.Years ago, Haenyos officially retired at age 55. Today, it’s hard to find Haenyos under the age off 55.