I knew about the female pearl divers in Japan, but not about the Korean "sea farmers", who were also women. The Island of Sea Women was a very interesting look at the culture and history of Jeju island, Korea, which is set apart from the mainland in both language and tradition. World War II and the Korean War brought much unwanted change to the Jeju culture, but in the end the women who were once viewed as oddities are seen as national treasures.

Young-Sook lived on the Korean island of Jeju. The day she met Mi-ja, she knew she had met her best friend forever. They looked forward to that day when they would join the powerful collective of women divers, the haenyeo, for which their island was famous. As they grow and become baby divers, they learn a lot about life and love, and they grow even closer together. It isn’t until one terrible and fateful day that they have a deadly misunderstanding, and that close and precious friendship is shattered forever.

This is an amazing book! Not only did I not know of the women diver’s collective in Jeju, but I also did not know about their woman-centered society. On this tiny island in the 1930’s and 1940’s, the women were the breadwinners and the men “sat under the big tree thinking big thoughts.” The haenyeo earned the income, while the men took care of the children. They made a good living, too. They dove deep, considering they used no diving gear. They were amazing and strong women.

This book also tenderly and compassionately explains what it was like to live in Korea during the Japanese colonization and afterward when they were in the middle of fighting factions. What a valuable and wonderful book!

Lisa See’s new book, The Island of Sea Women, is a historical fiction story which takes place during World War II and the Korean War. Young-Sook is the main female character, born into a family of divers called Haenyeo, she grows up on the island of Jeju, where food, like abalone and octopus, is harvested by the divers from the sea.

Life as a Haenyeo can prove to be quite dangerous, after years of strengthening their lung capacity, learning the rules of the ocean, and risking their lives with each dive, they continue a life of harvesting food for their families and their community. A part of the book I personally found very interesting and invested in reading more about.

The love the women divers shared for the ocean and the island is what intrigued me the most about the story. I had never previously heard of this group of women called the Haenyeo. I appreciated the author’s acknowledgements after the ending to explain their history and the research she had to do in order to write this book.

The central theme of the book is not just of the Haenyeo people, but of a deep rooted friendship that begins in childhood. Young-Sook, the main character, and Ming-ja, have the most amazing friendship as two little girls even though their families are from very different backgrounds. Over the years, they grow up together until they both are wed to their new husbands through an arranged marriage and begin their adult lives, living apart from each other and becoming mothers. During the war and through horrible political events, their friendship is torn apart by unimaginable tragedy. Tragedy that I found extremely hard to read, knowing that many of these events are very close to true events from history. I felt like the cover of the book was a bit deceiving, since the horrors of the war described in the book were almost enough to make me stop until I was ready another day. But I kept on reading, finding myself desperate to know what what would happen to these characters’ lives that I’ve become so invested in.

I was heartbroken at the tragedy Young-Sook experienced and the unbelievable strength she had to overcome it, including her anger towards Ming-ja that almost destroyed her. There are beautiful lessons of life, love, motherhood, family, friendship and forgiveness told throughout this story that make this book so memorable for me.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in historical fiction, unique cultures, and reading about the bonds of friendship and family through decades of time.

Thank you to #netgalley and Scribner Publishing for my advanced e-book version in exchange for an honest review.

I learned a lot reading about the wise and brave Jeju women divers. I could tell that alot of research has gone into this effort by Lisa See. The traditions, rituals, respect for one another and how the Japan/Korea conflict affects them through their different perspectives were the highlights for me. It was interesting how the roles of men and women are quite different in this culture. The women are the ‘bread winners’, divvying up the day’s diveing spoils for their families and to make a living wage. Learning about the art of the dive was eye-opening. These women masters of the sea are born into this life and are truly amazing. Risking dangerous conditions, from water temperature, to their alternate breathing techniques and confronting creatures of the deep like octopus looking for dinner swimming amongst them. Different from any other book I’ve read by Sea, but enjoyable just the same.

*will post in additional online venues closer to date of publication. Thanks much for the galley. What a story!

Lisa See always come up with the most fascinating topics for her books. I had read another book about this subject, but See's book is very throrough. Women dive for a living and make the money for the family on this Korean island. The story follows two friends and their closeness they shared, and then the tragedy and dissension that tore them apart. It's am engrossing book about hardy women who dive deep to provide for their families

This may be a novel that I need to set aside and come back to another time. Unlike other reviewers, I am not really engaging with this one at a third into it. For me, the story is detailed to the point of losing flow.

though...more than fine. This novel centers around the matrifocal society of Jeju, an island off the coast of Korea, and is utterly fascinating, heart-wrenching, and inspiring. Lisa See is the master of flushing out female relationships and she has created an extraordinary friendship here. Mi-Ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, shunned by the village women yet taken in by the head of the haenyeo collective and taught the skills of sea diving. Young-sook, the collective head's daughter and heir-apparent, forms a deep bond with this outsider. Shown through flashbacks of the 1930's during the Japanese era of colonialism, the years of WWII, the terrible times of civil war, and ultimately the present days when the society of the haenyeo has irrevocably changed. The haenyeo have been studied, examined, tested, you name it for many many decades; their ability to dive deep over and over in frigid waters, to test the boundaries, to support their families is truly breathtaking. This book has seared my heart and will not be forgotten any time soon.

What a great exploration of many things: friendship, a matriarchal society, the horrible conflicts endured by the Koreans from the 1930s through the 1950s, guilt & forgiveness, the power of a mother's love, and much more. A joy to read and to recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC to read and review.

Lisa See is a good storyteller. Her books always transport you to a far away place and time, and The Island of Sea People is no exception.
This story follows young Korean women who harvest the sea by free diving, a specialized and harrowing skill. We see the story through back and forth flashes from Young-Sook, following her from the 1930’s through the 2000s.
Jeju island is not untouched by the aftermath of WW 2 or the Korean War. As a matriarchal society, the island feels every heartache and loss personally. A woman’s life is hard here, and the life of free diving is not for the faint of heart.
A beautiful historical novel that made me do outside reachearch when done. I had to know more about the lives of women like Young-Sook and her best friend Mi-Ja. A book that makes you smile and cry at the same time is a job well done.
An excellent pick our book clubs, we will definitely have many copies on hand!

It seems impossible that Lisa See can continue to write amazing novels, The Island of Sea Women could actually be her best one to date. This extremely well researched novel takes place on the Island of JeJu in South Korea. It is a novel of intense friendship, hardship, war, love and loss. Haenyeo are sea women who risk their lives daily to provide food and an income for their family’s by diving down into the sea. It is fascinating to read about role reversals between men and women beginning in the 30s and continuing for decades. It is a time when women were the ones to make a living supporting their families while men stayed home to watch the children and cook. The political unrest through the Korean War and the 4.3 Incident is difficult to read about and will haunt you. The Island of Sea Women comes out March 5th. It is a must read in 2019.

When I saw that Lisa See had a new novel I was thrilled to receive a copy. Her writing is beautiful and she brings all her characters to life for the reader. The Island of Sea Women has it’s setting on the Island of Jeju in Korea. The time frame begins with the Japanese occupation in 1930 and continues up to modern times. The two main characters are Young-sook and Mi-ja. Two little girls who are very different but whose love and friendship binds them together.
The girls are both trained to be haenyeos. These are women who can dive deep into the ocean to fish for sea creatures. They develop an amazing lung compactly and can hold their breaths for long periods of time and they dive in cold winter weather without hypothermia. The island is known for the women working and the husband staying home and caring for the children and cooking.
Mi-ja and Young-sook’s lives are intertwined from childhood on. They both suffered hardships and tragedies and experienced a devastating event that strained their relationship.
The characters are fictional but the events that occurred from the Japanese occupation and the Korean War, with American troupes occupying the island, did actually occur. The book was fascinating and I recommend it to all Lisa See’s fans and to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
I received an Advanced Reader’s copy from the publisher and Netgalley. My review is unbiased.

Lisa See brings the reader to Jeju in Korea before and after the split into North Korea and South Korea. The Island of Sea Women is a very moving story about the friendships of the women divers who are the workers in the family while the men stay home and take care of the children. We also experience the pain of war and the toll war takes on the physical and emotional state of the residents of this island. The lives of the women divers is touchingly described so I felt that I could truly understand about how they worked and related with each other. I will definitely recommend this book to my book clubs.

Lisa See is a treasure and her books are always a pleasure for me to read. I look forward to a new book from her with anticipation. She writes some of the best historical fiction I have ever read and I have learned so much about different Asian cultures and traditions while enjoying her beautifully crafted stories. The prose is lyrical and entrancing and I love it!

This book is set on the island of JeJu in Korea before and after it was split into North and South. The focus is on the lives of Young-sook and Mi-ja who are Haenyos (women divers who support their families by deep-diving in the sea with no equipment and collecting food to sell and to eat while their husbands stay at home with the babies). They are best friends and as close as sisters. But when horrible troubles strike Korea something happens that tears a rift in their friendship.

The characters are so realistic and the descriptive writing so very immersive that you are pulled into the story like you are there and are feeling what the characters feel. There is both joy and sadness in this book. Some of the horrors endured on this island are unimaginable to me.

I highly recommend this book as well as all of Lisa See's works. I will read anything she writes with pleasure!

Thanks to Lisa See and Scribner through Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Once again Lisa See brings us a compelling story of friendship and love and of a matrifocal society, set in a place and time with which many readers will be unfamiliar. Many of her characters come to life while others remain more mysterious, and although those mysteries underlie the meaning of much of the book, they aren’t as well developed as one might wish, especially as the biggest mystery is revealed. Still, See has a way of spinning a tale that sucks in the reader and keeps her there until the end. I would have preferred that her rather long Acknowledgements section have been divided into two, one that acknowledged the people who gave her extraordinary assistance and one that was a more traditional bibliography, so that those of us interested in reading further about one or more aspects of Jeju’s society, culture, or history, would be able to find those references more easily.

The incredible story of the heroic Haenyeo sea women divers of the Korean island of Jeju and the horrors they faced at the hands of the various countries that occupied this small island. Generations of women free divers under freezing water conditions dove every day for hours to collect the sea's bounty and provide for their families. In their unusual culture, the men stayed home and watched over the young ones and cooked, while the women of the family from teens to the elderly would dive in the "wet fields" and tend to the "dry fields". The money they earned would be used to send the men of the family to school. The Haenyeo were very well respected and lived by a very strict code. Two of these women became friends when they were very young just beginning as "baby divers" and stayed the best of friends until tragedy and war forced them apart. The determination, family loyalty, work ethic and challenges these women faced and the hardships they endured makes for a fascinating story and one that only Lisa See can tell so well. She is a master at bringing the reader into a world so unlike my own and yet the characters are always those that you can identify with and learn from. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Tremendous historical research of a culture most of us never knew existed by a talented and well-known author. The subject of a matriarchal society was fascinating as well as was the historical background leading to the division of Korea. I love it when I can read a novel that also educates me. Thank you Ms. See and Net Galley.

I loved this! I just recorded an episode of What Should I Read Next, airing February 26, were I recommend this book as a multi-generational family saga that's perfect for fans of Pachinko, that illumines a place and time we likely didn't learn about in history class.

This story of a matriarchal society on an island off the coast of Korea is fascinating, one that takes you into a world that was little known about and what happened there was even less known about. We are taken to Jeju where the women dive for fish and vegetation while the men tend to the children. This saga takes place from the 1930's up, until Japan leaves Korea after WWII and the country is split in two. Within this framework is the story of friendship, of Young-Sook and Mi-Ja. These sea-women divers ("haenyos") give us a glimpse of what it was to live through those times...before modernization, the hazards of sea diving, and the politics, intrigue as well as the historical significance that led us to our current era They were deep sea divers going 65 ft. deep to harvest sea urchins, abalone, octopus, shellfish and more. Through their work, they kept their families alive from whatever income they made from selling their harvest.

Living under the heel of Japanese colonialism, through WWII and then a country divided by the 38th parallel, these women had the strength of endurance. Their lives, never easy, their work in the "dry" fields tending small parcels of land and then "wet" fields as divers...they were in constant motion. Danger and peril were their companions, especially when diving. Yet, that was what they knew, what they were drawn to, not only because that was all they had, but the sea represented life...their life.

I have long been a fan of Lisa See, this is my 7th book written by her. She never disappoints! Her research impeccable, her writing is intense and emotional. This book is captivating and a must read for fans of historical fiction...it is also an opportunity to visit other cultures. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of reading any of Ms. See's novels, you don't know what you are missing. Highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. It has taken me some time to process this book. This book by Lisa Sea is much heavier than her previous book that I had read, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane.

This is a long book that is full of details about an area of the world that I was not familiar with but even more with a period of time that I had never heard. But it is also a story of friendship and family.

I was first intrigued by this book because of the haenyeo. I knew nothing about this practice or of these women. I found it fascinating that the women of the island of Jeju were the providers for their families while their husbands stayed home to take care of the children. What the haenyeo are able to do defies what our bodies are made to withstand.

I had never heard of the 4.3 Incident a.k.a. Buckchon Massacre. The facts and details of this time are hard to even wrap my mind around. I don't enjoy reading stories like this but I believe it is critical for us to know about events that have happened so we can attempt to prevent them in the future.

I fear I can't do this book justice. I finished it last week, and I've been thinking about my review everyday since. I've talked about the book with everyone: my husband, my co-workers, my students, my best friend, my mother. Why? Not just because it's a good book, but because it has something for every one of them.

For my husband: a beautiful story of the world beneath the sea
For my co-workers: the tragic story of the 4.3 Incident, which none of us had ever heard of
For my students: the empowering history of the haenyo, the amazing female collective of divers who supported the village with, essentially, their will
For my friend: the story of friendship and what it means to be a true friend
For my mother: the story of the power of a mother's love, as well as the story of a matrifocal society that calls to mind the goddesses of Avalon

I will read this book again and again.