The Island of Sea Women

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Your body will know what to do,” Mother said reassuringly. “And even if it doesn’t, I will be there with you. I’m responsible for every woman’s safe return to shore. I listen for the sumbisori of all woman in our collective. Together our sumbisori create a song of the air and wind on Jeju. Our sumbisori is the innermost sound of the world. It connects you to the future and the past. A single sumbisori allows girls like you to serve her parents and then her children.”

The Island of Sea Woman explores the friendship and family dynamics between two young girls, Young-soo and Mi-Ja. The story takes place in a span of 80 years as we follow the girls through their heartache and challenges. The tension and suspense rise as the girls start to drift apart due do betrayal and the struggle for forgiveness. This story is about friendship, family, motherhood, womanhood, and being honest with yourself and your heart. It is told on an epic scale by the amazingly talented Lisa See. Lisa puts her heart and soul into capturing the true essence of Asian history across her novels, and this one even blew the beloved Snowflower and the Secret Fan out of the water. She definitely felt this one to her core and let that come out to her readers. The research that went into this story is amazing.Consider reading Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which follows a lifelong friendship between two women in 19th century China. Compare this friendship to the friendship between Young-sook and Mi-ja.

Todo ello lo conocemos a través de dos haenyeo, dos amigas desde su infancia hasta su vejez, vemos el efecto de la ocupación japonesa en Corea, la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la llegada de los americanos, nuevas guerras, dictaduras y verdaderas masacres que van a sufrir durante muchos años en toda Corea.It is a beguiling book, no doubt about that. I think the word "Beguiling" fits Island of Sea Women perfectly. And I have read books as dark as this one many times over although the darkness and the violence comes very early in this book. I was fascinated by the diving but could not really enjoy that either because of the deepening sense of DREAD. It seemed like every time they dove, something awful happened. The violence, the carnage, the brutality from the first few chapters was very graphic and married my ability to enjoy this book.