While engaging and well-written, this novel had the unfortunate timing of coming after I'd read Lisa See's The Island of Sea Women, so it didn't have the same strong impact. Since I already had some background knowledge about the haenyeo of Jeju Island, a little bit of the magic was diminished. That said, The Mermaid of Jeju is about far more than the haenyeo, and involves quite a bit of history and politics of the island post-WWII. I found the characters well thought out, but the linking of the past and present could have been a little smoother so that the connection was more apparent and less jarring (unless that's what the author was going for).

Title: The Mermaid from Jeju
Author: Sumi Hahn
Genre: Fiction, historical fiction
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep sea diver in a family of strong haenyeo. Confident she is a woman now, Junja urges her mother to allow her to make the Goh family's annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade abalone and other sea delicacies for pork. Junja, a sea village girl, has never been to the mountains, where it smells like mushrooms and earth, and it is there she falls in love with a mountain boy Yang Suwol, who rescues her after a particularly harrowing journey. But when Junja returns one day later, it is just in time to see her mother take her last breath, beaten by the waves during a dive she was taking in Junja's place.

Spiraling in grief, Junja sees her younger siblings sent to live with their estranged father, Suwol is gone, the ghost of her mother haunts their home--from the meticulously tended herb garden that has now begun to sprout weeds, to the field where their bed sheets are beaten. She has only her grandmother and herself. But the world moves on without Junja.

The political climate is perilous. Still reeling from Japan's forced withdrawal from the peninsula, Korea is forced to accommodate the rapid establishment of US troops, and her grandmother, who lived through the Japanese invasion that led to Korea's occupation understands the signs of danger all too well. When Suwol is arrested for working with and harboring communists, and the perils of post-WWII overtake her homelands, Junja must learn to navigate a tumultuous world unlike anything she's ever known.

This is a gorgeous cover, isn’t it? I probably would have picked this book up for that reason alone, but the blurb intrigued me as well. And I’m glad I read this—although it’s not a happy, fluffy bunny book, by any means. This book is about sorrow and danger and unimaginable courage.

This isn’t a fast-paced book, although there’s a lot going on. The reader is firmly in Junja’s life and what happens to her, getting a feel for the culture and experiences she lives through in Jeju. If you’re looking for a deeply moving story, this is definitely the read for you.

Sumi Hahn was born in Korea. The Mermaid from Jeju is her first novel.

(Galley courtesy of Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review.)

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Fans of Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women (Mar. 2019) should love Sumi Hahn’s The Mermaid from Jeju (Dec. 2020), but See’s novel is not mandatory reading before Hahn’s. Although both deal, at least in part, with the haenyeo , the female divers of the Korean island of Jeju, Hahn’s novel is original, not imitative, drafted in full before the earlier book’s publication.

Although The Mermaid from Jeju opens with Junja’s death in 2012 Philadelphia, Hahn almost immediately transports readers back to 1944 Jeju, an island off the Korean peninsula’s south coast. Young Junja, a diver in a family of divers, convinces her mother and grandmother that she is old enough to carry abalone from her coastal village to a mountain family on Hallasan in exchange for a piglet. Little does she anticipate meeting Suwol, a mountain boy with whom she will fall in love and later nearly marry. Junja’s solo journey also introduces readers to the surprising Constable Lee, who will reappear at important moments throughout the story.

Somewhat past midpoint, the novel shifts to Junja’s widower husband, Dr. Moon Gun Joo. Haunted by ghosts from his past, Gun Joo returns to Korea for the first time since he and Junja left for the U.S. in 1948. Met at the airport by his old friend Kim Dong Min, Gun Joo and Dong Min set out to find a shaman to exorcise the ghosts. The story soon flashes back to the 1940s again, filling in details about the two old men’s friendship as young Nationalist soldiers, their meeting the young women they will eventually marry, and their side of Korean history.

Some reviewers have expressed a strong preference for Junja’s portion of the novel, and I understand that. She was the haenjeo—the female diver on Jeju—and one half of the love story involving handsome, idealistic Suwol. However, Gun Joo’s side is equally important. He is the scientist haunted by ghosts, not just of his wife but of his early childhood in what would later become North Korea.

Sumi Hahn raises questions of the relationships between past and present, between modern life and tradition. Can people ever truly leave their pasts behind, or do those pasts somehow manifest themselves in unexpected ways at critical moments in the present? From where does healing come—from immediate family or old friends, from science or the spirit world?

My thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Sumi Hahn for the Advance Reader Copy of The Mermaid from Jeju.

A very disappointing read. I really wanted to understand post WW2 side of Korea and this book seemed like a perfect pick. Sadly, the writing wasn't my style. I couldn't relate to anything or anyone. Usually cultural differences are never a concern to me because I believe if the writing is good enough, you can relate fairly. Sadly, it wasnt the case here. The writing really didn't strike the cord with me.

Beautiful historical fiction book. There were plenty sad moments but those moments are what kept the plot and storytelling filled with raw emotions.

The unassuming heroines of Jeju Island

Prepublication review of The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn

r/suggestmeabook: I want an elegy for Jeju in the aftermath of WWII with memorable characters and hints of the fantastic.


Post WWII

Movie rating: R

Pages: 241

Publisher: Alcove Press

Publication date: 12/8/2020

From the publisher: In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep sea diver in a family of strong haenyeo. Confident she is a woman now, Junja urges her mother to allow her to make the Goh family’s annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade abalone and other sea delicacies for pork.

At the beginning of this tale, I was expecting it to be like lovely The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See, and thought, “Oh, dear. See did such a great job of evoking the world of the Haenyeo that I’m going to spend the whole novel comparing them.”

Thankfully, that was not the case. Instead, it supplements an understanding of the period from different points of view, along with Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. These novels together give multiple points of entry into a time that the West (or at least America) knows little about.

The Korean War is often called “The Forgotten War,” and the view of the prelude of that war from Jeju, as portrayed by Sumi Hahn, is one which Americans would be well advised to learn about. No, we’re not heroes. Yes, we should be aware of the ways in which we have failed as a nation.

The characters are wonderful in this book; I fell in love with many of them. Junja reaching for womanhood, her grandmother trying to restore the legacy of her family from before the Japanese occupation, Suwol dreaming of a different life than tradition would saddle him with, Constable Lee searching for the food his mother used to make—each one eases into your heart, as quietly as the tide.

The insight into the spirituality of the Jeju women was quite taking. Be warned: ghosts, sea kings, dreams, portents—they all reside on this island. Even the origin story of the island is mystic. Shaman are respected here.

The writing seemed a bit uneven in places. Early in the book, the sentences felt choppy and staccato, but as the story progressed, that sense of quick and unsettling movement smoothed out. But since the content of the book is a movement from naivete to knowledge, I can see how form echoes content, but I found it took me a little longer to get into than I think it would have otherwise. It was a distraction rather than an enhancement.

This is the first book where I’ve thought about a content warning. The beginning of the book is pastoral and feels like it’s going to be a coming of age story, but it pivots rather quickly from that narrative. There are some rough scenes in this book that are dictated by the reality of the Korean War period, and some of them come on you without much warning. However, overall, there is a lot of foreshadowing.

I was a bit disappointed in the ending, as it felt as though it petered out rather than having the same vigor as the story up until then. However, it was not a big enough issue to ruin the book for me, as some endings have in the past.

All in all, The Mermaid from Jeju is a worthwhile read, with some heart-rending moments and admirable sacrifices, an elegy for Jeju as it was, with some wistful attempts at redemption.

This new novel by Sumi Hahn, The Mermaid from Jeju, was not what I expected. It was so much more. When I first looked at the title, I assumed that referring to a mermaid would be the fantastical world of these mythical creatures. I think every girl no matter the age still dreams of mermaids, and I still want to believe that they are out there somewhere.
Overall, The Mermaid of Jeju surpassed my wildest dreams in the most unexpected way. While the title hints to the mythical mermaids, the novel refers to the very real haenyeo women of Jeju. These amazing freediving women are a major part of the culture of Jeju. These women are the real mermaids of Jeju. This novel does a beautiful job at showing the reader this culture that many people might not know exists. Another unique part of this novel is the time period it takes place. In history, it takes place after World World II but immediately before what in American history is called the Korean War, more specifically the majority of the novel takes place in 1948. It is so beautifully written that all of the historical aspects of the time are included, even the harrowing event on April 3, 1948.
This novel needs to be seen and read and it stands out from other novels I’ve read in the past. When a novel does that, especially in the life of a book blogger, you know that it is written by a talented author and checks off most of the boxes on my “impressive book checklist,” and the Mermaid from Jeju has done just that. Instead of dulling my desire to travel to South Korea, I’ve only seen the airport and if I'm being honest I was not having a great trip. My desire to travel has only grown. If you get the choice to read this book or another one, pick The Mermaid from Jeju, you will not regret it, but you will fall in love.

A sad yet peacefully beautiful work of literary historical fiction.

I can’t help but think how perfect this cover is for how I felt about this book. It made me feel as if I was in the eye of the storm or looking at a striking sunset that comes after a raging fire - cue the cover art of a soft and striking pastel sky and a lone figure in the ocean.

The use of color, taste, smell, longing and tradition made this such a special read. The lyrical language and writing style is so expertly done, and it’s all layered with a history so appalling and unjust. And the focus on haenyos (mermaids of Jeju) was so intriguing and new for me - I went on to do more research about this amazing tradition and generation of women.

My only negative was the format. As a reader, I like historical fiction to have a strong structure since there’s often so much time jumping and character switching. This format jumped a bit, especially in the second half, and while I appreciated a bit of mystery (who did Junja end up married to??), I wanted a bit more consistency in the time jumping and character focus to keep me on track.

All in all, I’ve just put this book down and I felt so equally light and heavy. Such an enchanting read.

Wow. So first of all thank you so much to Netgalley, Alcove Press, and Sumi Hahn for making it possible for me to get an advanced copy of The Mermaid from Jeju. This book is beautifully written, that’s for certain!! I’m so looking forward to more from Hahn! I can think of no better way to first describe this book other than by saying it is a historical fiction that reads as a fantastical tale. There are moments in the book that may get a bit confusing and feel like it doesn’t mesh extremely well with the dual timelines, but this didn’t take away any enjoyment for me. It’s one of those books that I can acknowledge and respect criticisms, but I still can’t get over the beauty and rawness of the book.

Side note: there’s a glossary in the book as well that proves to be educational and helpful for the reading process.

This book focuses on the story of female deep sea divers on the island of Jeju known as haenyeo. The Korean culture throughout is wonderful. It is post WWII and our main character, Junja, takes us on her journey dealing with family, grief, brutality, and love. It’s a unique book and one I’d recommend!

The Mermaid from Jeju, by Sumi Hahn, is a beautifully written story about post-WWII Korea and the struggles faced by Junja and her people.   The novel is written between the dual timelines of the late 1940s and current-day America, but the transitions are easy to follow. This is a time/place in history that I knew little about and found myself looking up things to further my knowledge. It is a lovely story on its own, but also a factual piece that will enlighten those with little knowledge of the period. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I am always interested in books about Asian culture, as well as historical fiction. This novel incorporates both, as it delves into the story of Junja, a deep sea diver from Jeju Island. The time frame is post WWII, as the Americans take over and the Koreans have to put up with more violence, as well as 2001, where Dr, Moon is mourning the loss of his wife, Junga. Delving into politics, as well as the themes of love, loss and strength to survive, Junja’s story is hard to put down. Thanks to NetGalley for this well written and illuminating ARC.

An absolutely beautiful historical fiction that is so wonderfully written and moving.

The story starts with the women of Jeju that work as divers in the sea in a matriarchal society and follows the story of one family in particular.

I love the way the writer doesn't explain everything and the reader has to work to join the dots at times between the characters.

The descriptions are fantastically detailed and I really would like a Jeju recipe book after all those food descriptions!

I also learnt a lot of new things and have looked up the historical incidents featured in the book that to my shame I had no idea about. We learn about WW2 and the Korean war at school in the UK but the focus is on ourselves and Europe. It was fascinating to learn about these people and their culture and gods that were caught up in conflicts amongst other nations.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Junja's story is told in pieces in this novel which jumps back and forth from post-war Korea to present day. There are a lot of fascinating elements and if you know little about Korean culture and history, this is an engaging way to know more.

Though not the first novel I’ve read about the Haenyeo divers and their matriarchal society, this was one of the better ones. Partially set in Korea in the aftermath of World War II, when Korea was left in political turmoil after Japanese occupation and now Korean Nationalists (with America’s backing) coming to power. The story follows Junja’s path as a deep-sea diver like her mother and her mother before her all the way to present day America. Toggling back and forth between the two time periods.

A tale about love for one’s family as well as one’s country and culture, I flew through it in a couple of days. The descriptions of the body wracking energy it took for the Haenyeo divers of Jeju to get their catch, paired with the explanations of their offerings to the gods, made for a magical read, almost distracting enough to forget what was happening topside on the island. Even the state of political chaos on land was told through the lens of Junja and her community and their struggle to free themselves of an oppressive party.

I so enjoyed this novel and only prevent giving it five stars because I felt the future timeline was lacking in comparisons to the tales of the past. I almost wish Junja’s daughters had been omitted for their characters didn’t enhance Junja’s story. Also, I want to know what happened to her siblings.

Thank you to Sumi Hahn, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for the Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for the honest review.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

"Inspired by the true event on Korea's Jeju Island in 1948. Junja must learn to navigate a tumultuous world unlike anything she's ever known."

Like so many books are these days, this is written in dual timelines. I found the older timeline more compelling than the newer, but it is a quick read.

2.75☆

Junja is a young woman in Korea, growing up learning the traditions and following the family line in deep sea diving. She is faced with trials as she watches her mother die young, her siblings leave to live with an estranged father, and American troops begin to move in. She also falls in love with Suwol, but her heart and brain are swirling with all of the new political events happening in Korea, and she is trying to figure which end is up.

Part of the story is set in modern-day America, but the majority is focused on Junja's young years in Korea. I learned a lot about the country, culture, and history.

A strong debut novel from very impressive Sumi Hahn, comes a story about young woman who dives deep into the sea to retrieve the treasures it offers. Junja, our main protagonist is a hard working girl who lives with her grandmother for most part of her young life.
Set during times when Korea was brink of war born out of different ideologies, Junja finds herself between oceans and mountains, between rebellious teens and gentle soldiers. Its a love story, story about strength and perseverance, about ideology and finding contentment in the way we live.
Split into two parts, the first part of the story is told from Junja's perspective and the second is from her husband. The dichotomy of this is blatant and Sumi Hahn does a decent job of keeping the momentum though its obvious that its the voice of Junja, the mermaid, that wins over and is the strongest of the two. The second part is about the onset of Korean war and how things really change for the protagonists; the pain, the change and the suffering that come with it.
<i>The mermaid from Jeju</i> is indeed an interesting historical fiction providing an insular look into the times of the Korean divide.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

According to the Ancient Greeks, five rivers flow through the land of the dead, and the most famous of these is Lethe, whose waters, when drunk, cause forgetfulness. 
The same cannot be said for the waters that flow through the afterlife of Sumi Hahn's sad tale, The Mermaid from Jeju, named for Jeju, the South Korean island where it's set. The imagery of the sea returns like the tide again and again: the idea of the titular 'mermaid' is based on the haenyeo, Korean female divers who earned their own income and supported their families by harvesting abalone and seaweed from the waves. In the ocean's deeper waters, death is merely one of many currents. The women leave offerings at an underwater shrine, said to be for the sea god, but the outcome of doing so is never guaranteed. Near the story's end, a character finds herself "outside the world", in the afterlife. She walks a path up a familiar mountain. Her hair grows and tangles with the branches. When she bends to drink from a stream, she remembers "who she was," and the waters restore her girlhood.
By this point, the story has faded quietly and sweetly into a triumph that perhaps only myths allow. Much like Korea, cut in half by the 38th parallel, this novel feels like it has two distinct halves. In the first, a young Korean woman and man fall in love against the backdrop of the Jeju Uprising, a rebellion that was brutally and violently repressed by Korea's military dictators. As violence unfolds around them and whole villages are burned or put to the sword, the couple's families prepare a wedding feast. You ache for the lovers in advance, suspecting already that this story will not allow them to eat it. Eventually, the woman flees to mainland Korea, where she lives "only to ache." From there, she goes even further, to the United States, where she eschews the elemental gods of her Korean upbringing in favor of a strict communal Christianity and regular English lessons. She has two daughters who don't understand the past, for whose sake she suppresses the annual pain she feels when snowflakes fall and remind her of her flight. In the midst of confrontations with these daughters, she reminds her husband "the fault wasn't their daughter, but the language she spoke, which lacked modesty and manners." Unable to describe to them her life as a haenyeo, or the gentle feeling of waves like "caresses from the god of the sea," she tells them instead that she was once a mermaid.
The second half of the novel belongs to the ghosts born in the first half. The (now widowed) husband makes his way back to Jeju. The unpaved roads and small villages are gone, replaced by roads and resorts. Jeju, a site of so much weeping that the waters could have turned to solid salt, is now a honeymoon destination. Such is progress. But the husband can't quite relax into the honeymoon he clearly never had. He is plagued by the voices of the past - the people he and his wife left behind when fleeing the destruction of their homes. In order to calm his ghosts, he seeks out a shaman, who performs a ritual that lifts him into the realm of fantasy. "The work of healing…must start with forgiveness first," one of his friends tells him. Many of the people in this half of the novel are in search of peace, but first they must pass through forgiveness. Under the shaman's gentle but insistent pressure, ghosts rise from the resting places to which they were banished by war, graves often unmarked and unremembered, and dance towards freedom and joy. The gods of mountain and sea are awakened and honored, if only briefly.
It's a devastating tale, not least because it so honestly shows the deep trauma left by an incident that has been almost erased from history: for fifty years, it was apparently a crime to even mention the Jeju Uprising in Korea. From 1948–1950, as many as 100,000 people (many of them innocent citizens) may have been murdered by police and other authorized military forces who raped, executed and torched entire villages as part of an attempt to wipe out an ostensible communist rebellion. This incident happened partly under the so-called supervision of the United States. 
But this novel largely eschews grand political statements in favor of examining personal outcomes.
"Truth is, boys, there are no good guys in war," says one of the rebels to two disillusioned Nationalist troops who have been shipped to Jeju. This point arrives early in the novel's chronology but halfway through its body, its bleak knowledge dividing the story's halves. While the rebel's statement may be philosophically true, and it explains the character's clear-eyed resistance, it also lets the government off the hook. (South Korea's president would eventually apologize for the murders of Jeju civilians -but in 2006).
Bolstered by this dubious non-pep-talk, the troops find their way to their own quiet rebellion. This story illustrates the gap between survival and success, between life and afterlife. It demonstrates, also, why we cleave to the gods of our ancestors even when they appear to fail us. Denied the fruits of her wedding feast in life, the main character tastes the fruit of the afterlife, and remembers "the lives she lived before and the lives that were yet to come." For all people, but especially for people scarred by war, death is another form of continuity.

I just reviewed The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn. #TheMermaidfromJeju #NetGalley
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I ABSOLUTELY LOVED this book!!! How unique and fascinating.. This story will stay with me!!!

Sumi Hahn's The Mermaid from Jeju captivated me from the start. I didn't know much about the Japanese invasion of Korea or the Korean war before reading this book. In The Mermaid of Jeju, we learn the story of Junja Goh at the end of her life in America. Her husband and two daughters are mourning her, preparing her funeral. Her husband has started to dream of ghosts and as he tries to calm his life, he decides to return to South Korea and Jeju Island.

The novel switches from the present to the past and we learn Junja's story as a young girl. She is the eldest daughter and a powerful swimmer, one of the famous divers of Jeju Island. She learned this skill from her grandmother and mother - women equally famous and well respected for their strength and skill. Junja has been sent on an errand to deliver live abalone to a family in the mountains. The trip is long, difficult and exhausting and Junja travels on foot with the burden on her back. She meets Suwol, the firstborn son of the house, during this trip and he becomes an important part of her story.

We learn of the violence and cruelty of the different occupiers of Jeju Island - from the Japanese to the Americans and the Mainlanders. As we learn of the difficulties that Junja and her family have gone through, we get a sense of the difficulties the South Korean people had to endure. The Mermaid from Jeju is told with humor, sympathy and beautiful prose.

#TheMermaidfromJeju