Female Friendship, Family Secrets: Review of The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

The Island of Sea Women by New York Times bestselling author Lisa See is a riveting exploration of female friendship, the intricacies of families, working women and the power of turbulent world events to impact on our closest relationships.

Best friends Mi-ja and Young-sook live on the island of Jeju, a Korean island occupied by the Japanese and are Haenyeo, or sea women. They spend their working days free diving to significant depths in often cold water for seafood to sell and support their families. In the Jeju world, women are the bread winners of the family, undertaking dangerous dives to harvest oysters, sea slugs, and octopi from the sea while husbands and fathers take care of the family.

While Young-sook was always destined to live the life of a Haenyeo as her mother is chief of their collective, Mi-ja has lost both of her parents, and her father, who worked in a Japanese factory, was considered a traitor. Her aunt and uncle have taken her in but care little for her beyond what she can offer them financially. It is when Young-sook and her family take Mi-ja under their wing that the two girls become firm friends.

While the work is hard, and danger is ever present along with responsibility, the two girls love their life in the water. They support one another and begin to make their way in the world.

Set over their lifetime, the story charts their lives across a range of both very challenging and joyful experiences. Although they work together so closely for so long, the girls have very different backgrounds and when they marry their futures are equally different. Ma-ja returns to the city with her husband and Young-sook remains in Jeju with her work, loving husband and ever-expanding family.

They try to maintain the friendship and bridge their two worlds, however when the war is over and the Americans occupy Jeju, things become volatile and unpredictable. With tensions high and lives being threatened, can these two overcome the dangers and come together as friends once again?

Set during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, The Island of Sea Women is mesmerising. Meticulously written and researched, it reveals intricate worlds and a way of life that amazingly, continues even to this day. It is incredible to think that communities of women would throw themselves into the sea each day and survive, only to risk their lives again the next day.

Compelling, heart-wrenching and beautifully written, The Island of Sea Women is enthralling historical fiction.

About the author:

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women, 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 the story of her Chinese American family’s settlement in Los Angeles. See was the recipient of the Golden Spike Award from the Chinese Historical Association of Southern California and the History Maker’s Award from the Chinese American Museum. She was also named National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women.