Picked up today at the Edgewater Estate street library in Mackay. This has been on my list to read for a while so very happy to find it.

Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.

Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. The Island of Sea Women is an epoch set over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War and its aftermath, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.

This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a world turned upside down, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce and unforgettable female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

On it’s way to a wishlist tagger. I had high expectations for this book and it didn’t quite deliver in the narrative. Although the insights into the culture and history of Jeju, Korea were fascinating. I hope you enjoy it.

Arrived in the mail this morning. Thank you so much for this Wishlist book Rach260, a lovely hard cover copy too. This may be a good book to add to my 666 reading challenge for the year.

I loved this book!
It was so well researched with lots of insight into the recent history of Korea, and in particular the island of Jeju and it’s haenyeo or sea women.
Simply written in the voice of illiterate Young-sook, we to and fro’d backwards and forwards through her life as we learned about her deep friendship with Mi-ja which broke down irretrievably and suddenly after the 3rd April murders.
Lisa See sensitively portrayed the tough life the people of Jeju lived, the hard but fulfilling lives of the haenyeo, the constant poverty and the occupation of their island by the Japanese and the Americans.
The telling of this fractured friendship and the lifelong affects it had on both women was indescribably sad, and did bring me to tears in the last few pages.

Placing in my NSS gift for Poodlesister, on your wishlist, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for the books and all the other goodies. It’s been great to see you again.

Going to Yogiberri who's very keen to read it. She will return it to me to read.

This one is defo on my wishlist... Great choice which arrived in a fabulous goodie package. Thank you 😘😘😘

I realise I knew bits and pieces of the events around which the book is based and it was good to get a cohesive overview. Tricky novel. Back to the poodlesister.

Back with me!

I’ve read some non-fiction about Korea and although this is fiction, it was really interesting to read more about the history of the country, and from a female perspective. It felt like the author had done her research well.

This will travel to kinedi with a Bookring book in the next couple of days.

Join UK Bookcrossers at the BCUK Sheffield Unconvention from 4-6 July 2025

Thank you so much for sending this book on to me , looking forward to reading it soonest