Friends, I think I’ve found my first PRAISE HANDS read of 2019. Meaning, I really really loved The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. Thanks Netgalley and Scribner for this e-copy in exchange for my honest review!
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This book takes place on the island of Jeju in Korea, which is a matrifocal society where the women provide financially for the men by diving in the ocean and selling fish in the market, while the men stay at home with the children and cook. This had me HOOKED immediately. Gimme all of the stories about the strong ladies.
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So not only is the setting fascinating, the characters really tore at my heart strings. The narrator, Young-sook, learns to deal with so much loss and heartbreak in this book, and she struggles with forgiveness on such a relatable level. She is one of the more believable, and admiral, fictional voices I have heard in a long time. In fact, sometimes I forgot I wasn’t reading a memoir.
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This book is HEAVY with detail. I had to have Wikipedia near-by at all times while reading. I knew nothing about Jeju, the matrifocal society and the women-divers, or the horrifying impact that war had on the island. This book also has a lot of abuse and violence, so please be aware of that as well.
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I give this book 5/5 stars.. If you loved Pachinko, I think you’ll really find this different perspective of Korea around the same time period fascinating.

THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN was my first book by Lisa See, and it won’t be my last. When I first saw this book, I knew, like many historical fiction books, took place during WWII, but what drew me to the book was the location. This story follows the friendship between two women in Korea from the 1930s through WWII and the Korean War.

Young-sook comes from a family of Haenyeo, the name for the sea-women who dive into the sea to work and provide for their families. Mi-ja is the daughter of Japanese collaborators. They became best friends and their friendship is one that is thicker than blood. But will it last through the many tragedies their island will face?

There were so many things that drew me into this story. It was so interesting to learn about Korean culture. The culture on Jeju is primarily matrifocal, meaning the women provide and support the households and religion is primarily centered around women. I was also intrigued by the colonization and modernization of Jeju from a Korean perspective.

This book provides a unique viewpoint on a period in history that is well known and well documented elsewhere. As all good historical fiction novels do, this one drove me to the internet to read more about the people, the time period and the events that took place.

THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN is beautifully written, informative, and heartbreaking; spanning across generations, we see people trying to live their lives while the world brings war to their doorstep. This is a story about love, forgiveness, hard work and family. It was not always an easy read, but I think it is an important one.

I loved everything about this novel. As I mentioned above, I have never read anything by Lisa See before, but she just turned into an auto-buy author for me.

5-stars

Note: This book does include domestic abuse and violent scenes during the war.

The Island of Sea Women is based on the history of the Korean sea divers on the island of Jeju, and provides very accurate historical detail as well as a fascinating fictional story of these women divers. The women in this society are the breadwinners, sea divers, who risk extreme hazards to provide for their families. This is a story of friendship, resilience and forgiveness. It is vividly and beautifully written and so engrossing I didn’t want to put it down. I highly recommend it. I was honored to receive a free advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the Publisher, Scribner in exchange for an honest review.

I learned many facts while reading this. I have read many books by this author and they are all very historically informative. The women are the breadwinners on this small Korean island called Jeju. Young Sook is the Asian woman we follow all the way through the book. It starts out in her golden years with someone looking for someone Young claims not to know. The book then takes us back to Young's childhood when her mother was alive and follows as she experiences the insecurities of her growing up years and love. She experiences a loss so profound it affects her the rest of her life as she struggles with it. The women are divers most of their lives but when they are too old to do this they sit on the shore sorting fish. There were many foreign to me words That I think if I had known the meaning it would have enhanced the story for me. I always come away from reading Lisa See's books feeling enriched from having learned so much.
Pub Date: 05 Mar 2019
I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Scribner through NetGalley. Thank you. All opinions expressed are my own.

2.5 but rounding up because it was well written and I learned MANY interesting tidbits--particularly about Jeju, the haenyo, and the matriarchal culture. I'm [again] in the distinct minority of those who read and rated this book.

From 1938 to 2008, this book covers a wide sweep of history.

But, perhaps this book suffered in comparison to White Chrysanthemum which I recently read and found a far more compelling story; in that case I was hooked from the start.

I was never drawn into this book. In fact, I was often quite bored. Sad because Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is one of my favorites and other Lisa See book's also were better.

Kudos to See for all the research she did. I had to use a dictionary for many of the terms--sumisori, bulteok, olle, tewak, bitchang, and so on. The book is chock full of information. Shamans, spirits, and rituals, the roles of women and those of men, the fear of the Japanese. Clothes died in unripe persimon juice to stave off odors. I liked the "folk" [?] descriptions --such as swallowing water breath, water work, quiet drowning. And, for example, how diving affected hearing and voice. The societal setup. All this was interesting, I just wasn't captivated by the story.

So a hesitant recommend. Just not a favorite.

On the island of Jeju just off the Korean peninsula, lives a society where women are the breadwinners – sea divers, risking untold hazards to provide for their families from the ocean. Among them are best friends Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls just entering their village’s diving collective. Telling the account of their lives from the Japanese occupation in the 1930s, through World War II and the tumultuous aftermath up to the present, Lisa See’s latest historical fiction novel is a beautifully written account. If you love reading historical fiction about different cultures, this is one that you don’t want to miss.

As a fan of author Lisa See, I was excited to read her new book . Once again the location is Asia, and she focuses on strong women and their relationships.
This book is based on the history of the Korean sea divers, and provides some accurate historical detail as well as an engaging fictional story of women in the profession. An engaging read !

The Island of Sea Women features a fleet of women who dive into the sea to collect sea life surrounding their small Korean island called Jeju. Young Sook, a haenyeo, is our protagonist, who we follow from childhood to her golden years, as she experiences all the facets of life – love, motherhood, and most painful of all, loss. She has success in her career, but the pain and bitterness from her broken or lost relationships is insidious. I’d emerge from the book somber but reflective. Don’t get me wrong, just because this book had its sad points doesn’t take away from how incredibly wonderful it is.
See did her homework. She richly describes a matrifocal society that has developed a culture independent from the rest of the Korea. Living in a world where most of the societies I have been exposed to are patriarchal, it felt so refreshing and exciting to learn about a collective of women with such strength and a sense of leadership. I was absolutely thrilled to read about this culture I have never even heard of. I’m closing this book knowing I have learned so much. I have such appreciation for Lisa See’s work, and I cannot wait to read anything else she may release into the world.

Fascinating historical fiction. Considerable information interspersed amidst the fictional story and characters. This book describes a culture on a Korean Island Jeju in which women dive in cold water without oxygen and earn a difficult and sometimes deadly living harvesting fish and shellfish while their husbands stay at home and tend the children and cook meals for their family. In the aftermath of WW2 and the division of Korea into North and South, this story unfolds amid the horrific consequences of the resulting murderous discord. In concentric circles expanding outward, this story of two girls who develop a touching but problematic friendship which is subsequently torn asunder as a result of a heinous historical massacre of many of the residents of the island, and then their stories and that of their various family members continue to unfold over decades.

As I noted when I read Lisa See’s The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, I have loved reading her books for years, with my favorites including Shanghai Girls, Dragon Bones and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I was particularly pleased when, thanks to Scribner and NetGalley, I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Island of Sea Women, described as a book about “female friendship and family secrets on a small Korean island.”

The island is Jeju, “…an island known for Three Abundances: wind, stones, and women.” The story centers on Mi-ja and Young-sook, two young girls living on the island who are best friends despite coming from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective.

Early on, the story of the women was so fascinating I had to take a break and do a bit of research into the Korean island of Jeju. OMG, these women really did exist and are unreal. And this is something I love about Lisa See’s books: I always learn so much about both culture and history, as Ms. See takes her meticulous research and weaves it into a story so seamlessly it has a powerful two-pronged impact: lots of learning combined with a terrific story involving complex relationships.

The story of the Sea Women begins in 1938, at a time when Korea “…had now been a Japanese colony for twenty-eight years.” The story moves from Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s through World War II, the Korean War, and into years of progress including cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Mi-ja and Young-sook find their differences are impossible to ignore. One big issue is that Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and this association will be with her forever. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo (women divers), her mother is the leader of the women’s’ diving collective,and Young-Sook is destined to inherit her mother’s position down the line.

As usual when reading a Lisa See novel, it was so interesting to look at a completely different world, in this case one where the women are in charge as their day-to-day existence takes them into physically demanding and dangerous work while the men of Jeju take care of the children.

It’s a classic Lisa See story, focusing on friendship between while examining the larger forces that are swirling around them. Fans of Lisa See will love this, anyone interested in Japanese/Korean history and culture will appreciate it, and those unfamiliar with either are in for a treat. I only gave Teagirl 4 stars due my feelings about the ending, but this one gets 5 stars.

One of my favorite parts of Lisa See books is that I'm often learning about eras and events that I knew little about before, if at all. If you were a fan of her earlier book, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, you'll probably love this one too - it has a very similar set-up. While that might have been discouraging, I found that the similarity didn't bother me at all. Her research into the era, the location, and the culture of Jeju shows, and is just as fascinating (if not moreso) than the story of the Mi-ja and Young-sook. I've yet to come across a book of hers that I didn't enjoy and I look forward to the next one.

One of the things I enjoy most about historical fiction is learning something new that I never knew before. I've been to Korea twice this year in my reading--the first being Pachinko which dealt with the prejudice of the Japanese towards Koreans.

This is a story of friendship and forgiveness. It is set on the island of Jeju and tells the story of the haenyeo--the women of the island who dive into the sea to harvest its rich abundance.

The book begins in 2008 and centers on Young-sook, a famous granny diver and cultural treasure. She thinks: "We are but living myths, and soon we will be gone."

A family of Americans want to discuss the past with her, asking if she remembers a young woman in their photos. Young-sook denies this and does everything she can to avoid them.

These parts are told in third person but when she remembers the past, the story switches to first person pov, beginning in April of 1938. Korea has been colonized by Japan for many years at this point and the islanders long to be free.

Jeju of the past was a matrifocal culture--a society focused on the women sea divers. They support their families by this work while their husbands stay home with the children and cook dinner. Young-sook's mother is the head of their diving collective of thirty women from their neighborhood of Hado and is responsible for everyone's safe return to shore.

Young-sook becomes close friends with Mi-ja, an orphan girl whose father was labelled a Japanese collaborator, which causes her to be looked down upon. The two girls learn to dive together and are partners. Over the years, they swear they will always be best friends...but something horrible does eventually come between them. Many years later, Young-sook comes to the realization that "to understand is to forgive."

Beautifully written, deeply felt--this new book from Lisa See is a gem! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See is a breathtaking novel that spans several decades. It beautifully tells the tale of a long term friendship between two Korean diving women. Sadly, this story involves possible deception and heartbreak. However, a story often has two sides and this book brilliantly demonstrates that. I learned a lot about Korea and the tradition of diving and women's collectives. See writes so vividly that it's almost as though you can see exactly what she is describing. Read and enjoy!

I am a HUGE fan of Lisa See and her brilliants works of art! The Island of Sea Women is a novel about the woman of Jeju, an island in Korea. It explores the heanyeo culture and the titular sea women! It’s amazing to see what these “sea women” went through to support their families! The women being the providers by “sea diving” and men taking care of the children and household. These characters were so realistic and research for the book was spot on! This is one you won’t want to miss out on! Thank you NetGalley and Scribner for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent glimpse at a different part of the world and their culture. The Korean Island of Jeju, matriarchal society, 1930's to 2008, political takeovers by both Japan and America, dictators, suppression, trying to change a culture, religion and a way of life. Wonderful information on the strong women of Jeju, who provide for their families by diving naturally in the surrounding waters for delicacies. They are called Haenyeo. This is the story of Young-sook and Mi-ja - two young women and their families as they grow up on the Island.
I did love this novel. There are some slow parts - but I can now see those parts as building blocks to the understanding of the story. Lisa See's extensive research is evident and her ability to weave a story is exceptional Tragic is the come away feeling of this novel. At first profound friendship then severe hurt and loss. Forgiveness is another theme with one character giving and looking for forgiveness and the other not able to forgive.
I came away from this novel with a sense of how not being open enough to find out the whole story, both sides of the story can lead to a waste in one's life. Hurt feelings can devastate and change your world. One should strive to be as open in hurtful and overwhelming situations as possible - not always an easy thing to do but something to struggle for - it could change your life - as it could of Young-sook's! Excellent historical fiction!

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See is a magnificent novel about two young women on the Korean island of Jeju. Jeju is home to a matriarchic society where women support their families by diving into the ocean to harvest its gifts. Told from the vantage point of Young-Sook, the story follows the two women through their meeting during the Japanese Occupation in the 1930’s, their training and development as divers, adulthood and old age. World War II, the occupations that follow, and the Korean War bring hardship and tragedy to these women that threaten to obliterate their friendship and way of life.

While this book contains moments of horror that will stay with me for a very long time, they are essential to the story and to the realities of war. The author gives us an opportunity to experience the nurturing society of sea-diving women, whose humor, love and courage sustain one another through daily life and unspeakable tragedy. I highly recommend this book. It is the first book I have read by Lisa See, but it will not be the last. I already have several on my “to-be-read” shelf.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Scribner for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes it can feel like all historical fiction novels are centered around the WWII era. While I love many of those books, I was looking for something different. The Island of Sea Women is mostly based in the 1930s and 1940s and is about the Korean island, Jeju. During this time, it was under Japanese colonialism, so the residents find themselves caught between warring empires and in difficult and dire circumstances.

I loved this book for so many reasons. Any time there are layers to a story that aren’t immediately obvious, I’m hooked. The motivations of one person may not be understandable to others, and how does that play out when people’s lives are involved? How do you forgive a person that, by their refusal to help you, results in the loss of your family? Do they deserve to be forgiven?

Not only did I like the fictional side of this story, but I also loved the historical aspect as well. I know little to nothing about the history of how Korea was divided into North and South Korea, the impact of WWII on this specific region of the world, or the United States’ involvement during this time. While it’s not a complete history, it definitely introduced me to enough topics that I’m curious to learn more.

Another piece of the story that fascinated me was the henyeos. The women of this all-female diving collective are basically real-life mermaids. They can hold their breath for very long periods of time, allowing them to dive deep into the sea to collect abalone, octopus, sea cucumbers, squid, and more in order to sell (and sometimes eat themselves) to provide for their families. Because the women are the primary breadwinners, the men stay home and tend to the children. I found this so interesting given the time period the book was set in.

Friendship, forgiveness, and resiliency are strong themes throughout the book and anytime I find myself reading something that includes these aspects, I know I’m going to end up loving it. This book presents an impossible situation and it challenged me to examine my ideas of forgiveness.

There’s a lot to discuss in this book; it would make a great book club pick!

Rating: 4 well-researched and harrowing stars

Mi-ja and Young-sook meet as young girls in the beginning of Lisa See’s new historical fiction book titled, “The Island of Sea Women”. We follow them both through girlhood to old age; from their meeting in the 1930’s then across the following 6 or 7 decades. Young-sook is the narrator, and what a story she has to tell. She and Mi-Ja live on the volcanic island of Jeju which is off the southern coast of what is now South Korea. In the tradition of the island, the women who live in villages by the sea work as divers, ‘haenyeo’. In this society, the women go diving and cultivate both their sea ‘gardens’, and their earth gardens. The men stay home to take care of the children, and sit under the trees gossiping together.

As the story starts, Mi-ja is an ostracized young orphan daughter of Japanese collaborators during the time that Japan was occupying Korea. She is sent to live with her aunt and uncle who basically use her as an extra laborer. She is befriended by Young-sook’s mother who is the leader if their village’s diving collective. The girls become friends and learn to dive starting out as ‘baby divers’ together. Their story unfolds from there.

I believe this to be a story of accurate historical fiction. The decades written about in this book were hard decades on the world stage, and especially hard in Korea. The Japanese Occupation was brutal, and after the Japanese were overthrown there were horrific deeds done by two political factions in Korea; those who wanted to join Communist Korea, and those who wanted to form a Republic with the often brutal aid of American advisors and troops.

Mi-ja and Young-sook’s stories unfold against the backdrop of one struggle and harrowing experience after another. Let me stress again that I believe the history to be true, but the story was a bit unrelenting in the sorrow and atrocities faced by pretty much all the characters in the book. As with Lisa See’s previous books, the writing is first rate, and the subject well-researched.

For me, the pace was just a bit too slow, and the length a bit too long for the history covered. I appreciate learning the history, but I wish that there was just a bit more laughter mingled with the tears. That may be an unrealistic wish on my part, but the above mentioned issues are what influenced my decision to rate this as 4 stars instead of 5.

‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Scribner; and the author, Lisa See; for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The only novel I read by Lisa See was The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, and I remember loving it. So, when I saw that she had a new novel out I had to get my hands on the arc and let me tell you she did not disappoint. Taking place in the 1930's on the Korean island of Jeju, best friends Sook and Mi-ja work for their village’s women's free divers were they harvest seafood to consume and sell. The girls grow up together, dive together & are married off together. In the mist of this coming of age story a horrific war arrives on their doorsteps and everything falls apart. Vividly told and so, engrossing you won't be able to put this masterpiece down. Thank you NetGalley & Scribner for the arc.

This was my first time reading a book from Mrs. See and I cannot wait to devour more of her novels. I was fascinated by the female divers, the island of Jeju, the Korean and Jeju culture, and the history during those several decades. This was a beautiful book and story.

Thank you, Scribner and NetGalley!