G1095 Book Review of The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Name of Book: The Island of Sea Women

Author: Lisa See

ISBN: 978-1-5011-5485-0

Publisher: Scribner

Type of book: Jeju South Korea, 1938-2008, friendship, sisterhood, women, deep diving, haenyo, Japanese occupation, World War 2, Korean War, surviving, selling, growing up and maturing

Year it was published: 2019

Summary:

A new novel from Lisa See, the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, about female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island.

Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.

Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.

This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

Characters:

The characters that are written wonderfully are the women from the older villagers to the youngest villagers because each woman has an amazing personality and really shines through the story. Young-sook is a daughter of the leader and is best described as cautious and careful as well as very loyal to friends and family. I often get the impression that she looks down on herself when it comes to Mi-ja but other than that, she puts family first. Mi-ja often feels like a loner and always seems to be judged because of her background. She seems to develop a survival mindset and often questions people's intentions. There are other women and men in the tale, but they are not the main characters and they're not as developed as Young-sook and Mi-ja.

Theme:

Friendship forges unbreakable bonds

Plot:

The story is in both first and third person narrative, but both are told from Young-sook's point of view. The tale also tends to slip back and forth in time; that is a section takes place in late 1930s, while another takes place in 2008 and so forth. The historical aspects are in first person narrative, while the present-day are in third person narrative. The tale is well told, very engaging and its obvious that a lot of research has been done to capture the women divers and their lives, which I've greatly enjoyed. One thing that needed to be worked on are the male characters in my opinion, and I think I wanted to witness Korean history from 1950s up until the present day.

Author Information:
(From the book)

Lisa See is the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE, SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN, PEONY IN LOVE, SHANGHAI GIRLS, CHINA DOLLS, and DREAMS OF JOY, which debuted at #1. She is also the author of ON GOLD MOUNTAIN, which tells hte tory of her Chinese American family's settlement in Los Angeles. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and the Historymakers Award from the Chiense American Museum. She was also named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women.

Opinion:

One of my loves is reading stories that take place on the Korean peninsula, therefore I was pretty excited to read this book, and thought I would know a lot there was to know about Jeju Island. I just knew mere facts: that Jeju Island is seen as Korea's answer to Hawaii; I knew a little bit about the sea-diving, and I also knew that a lot of sad events in recent Korean history have happened on Jeju. Beyond that, nothing. I am happy to say that I learned a lot from THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN about the lives in Jeju and of the strength of female friendships over time. I really loved the detail and research that went into this story and I loved spending time with Mi-ja and Young-sook as they grew, matured, became mothers and so on. Few things that I think needed to be improved upon are the characters of men in the book. First of all there are bad and good Asian men in THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN. But its just that when comparing them to women who dare to tattoo themselves in one's mind, they weren't full of complexity or depth and they seemed to be a bit one dimensional, sorry to say. I also often wish that there was more to the story and more of Korea past Korean War in the book, and something I was interested in, the research performed almost at the end of the book, the conclusion that scientists came up with wasn't mentioned. All in all, a wonderful and magnetic read.

This was given to me for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)