The Island of Sea Women
By Lisa See
Published 2019
Read Sept 2025
Lisa See gives us another fine historical fiction novel. This one is set on Jeju Island, 51 miles south of the Korean peninsula. We learn about life under the Japanese occupation 1910-1945 and the even more turbulent times following WWII when the Korea was divided in two with the north a spoil for the Soviet Union and the south being a spoil for the US. The April 1948-May 1949 uprising in Jeju against the government plays a significant part of the story. This reader enjoyed learning about the history of these times and the perspective of the Jeju residents about the various occupations.
The story rolls out in two arcs.
During the first part of this story, we learn much about the structure of life on Jeju for families of haenyeo families. The women bring in the income for the family by diving for sea animals and make the major decisions. Their husbands stay at home, take care of the home and the children. Boys are important for the family as the first-born son will ensure the parent’s remains are appropriately tended over their lifetime. They are sent to school, paid for by the earnings of the mother and sisters who are divers. Daughters are treasured because they will become divers and bring in revenue for their family before they are married and will provide for their own family after they marry. Basically, the roles and actions of the wife and husband are reversed from other cultures, but inheritance and responsibility for caring for the souls of the deceased parents and grandparents etc falls to the sons. Thus a single son is important and having multiple daughters is celebrated.
The primary story tells the story of Mi-ja, an orphaned daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and Young-sook, the daughter of the local diving collective’s leader. It starts during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Young-sook’s mother takes Mi-ja under her wing when she comes to their village after her parents’ deaths to live with her aunt and uncle. She and Young-sook become very close friends as they both train to become haenyeo, women divers who harvest sea animals for sale.
On Young-Sook’s first dive, her companion does not follow instructions and becomes engulfed by an octopus. While she survives, her brain is damaged, and she requires supervision and care for the rest of her life. Later, Young-Sook’s mother dies in a diving accident while helping her daughter. Do-Soeng, mother of the damaged girl, takes over Young-Sook’s mother’s job as leader of the diving collective.
Young-Sook and Mi-Ju travel north to other diving sites for a season. On their return to their village, they meet a handsome young man who Young-Sook fancies greatly although they don’t speak. Young-Sook’s grandmother arranges marriages for each of the girls. Young-Sook to Jun-bu, the son of Do-Soeng, and Mi-Ju to that handsome young man who turns out to be the wealthy son of a Japanese collaborative and who also works for the Japanese. These events strain the relationship of the two women. Mi-Ja moves to Jeju city with her husband. Young-Sook’s marriage is a happy one while Mi-Ja’s is not. Mi-Ja returns to her village for a short time to interact with her gods and hopefully increase her chances of becoming pregnant. Both women become pregnant with their first children just before another trip of diving away from the village. They dream that Young-Sook’s daughter and Mi-Ja’s son will marry someday.
Events become more difficult for everyone after the US gains control of the government. The people are surprised that there is even less freedom than when under the Japanese and any talk of being independent from the US is taken labels that person a communist. We learn there are anti-communist purges following the 4.3 Incident, a strike that leads to a brutal encounter with the government. Young-Sook’s husband, her first-son, and sister-in-law are executed at the Bukchon massacre in the village of Buckhon-ri, along with 300-400 others (this is a real event). Mi-Ja and her son were present at the event as well but protected from harm due to her husband’s status in the government (Japanese collaborators were hired by the US back government). Young-Sook asked Mi-Ja to help save her family but she did not do this. This results in a rift between the women that continues through the rest of the story. Young-Sook turns away from her youngest daughter, born after the massacre, when she marries Mi-Ja’s son.
The second story arc occurs over a few days in 2008. Young-Sook’s granddaughter and great-granddaughter arrive in Young-Sooks’ village from the US where Young-Sook’s daughter and son-in-law moved after their marriage. This second arc tells the attempts the great-granddaughter makes to connect with Young-Sook. The ending of this story will be left for you to discover.
Lisa See creates a fully engaging story of two girls who become friends, wives, and mothers. She uses their story to help us understand both the society and culture of the island and the truly brutal situation Jeju residents suffered at the hands of the US-backed government after WWI. She led this reader to learn more about the history of the island and the haenyeo sea divers. See does an excellent job of helping us learn about various cultures and their histories through well drawn characters and their stories. This reader will read more from this author, and she fully recommends this book to others.
MarshaReads.com 