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. 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. 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. 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.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. 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. 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. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village.
Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. 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. Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger. 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.
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.
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