The Island of Sea Women

by Lisa See

This is the story of the lives of two south Korean female divers, called haenyo.  The two girls, Young- sook and Mi-ja.  Young-sook's mother is head of the women's diving collective.  Mi-ja is living with an aunt and uncle who are very mean to her.  She is an orphan (with a cloud hanging over her because her parents were considered Japanese collaborators).  The girls are very close friends and share all the time they can together.  They are illiterate but do rubbings to document their various adventures and memories.

The book describes how the women divers are the breadwinners of the family and the cooks and gardeners.  It seems all the men do is look after the children.  There is an early tragedy when Young-sook is being taught to be a diver, the other baby diver she is diving with gets caught underwater.  She lives but is brain damaged. 

The lives of the people are tough especially as they are under Japanese occupation.  Many people are killed or arrested as rebels.  Mi-ja gets engaged to a man that Young-sook likes.  She is sad about this but soon comes to suspect that they man she likes is abusing Mi-ja.  Young-sook marries a young school teacher and they are very much in love.  Young-sook's affection for Mi-ja wanes as she suspects Mi-ja's husband is siding with the Japanese against the local people.  He is eventually captured during the war (by whom I am not sure).  But when he returns being the chameleon he is he gets himself employed by the new occupiers, the Americans, and the new government that has been installed

The people are unhappy with this government and one day their dissatisfaction boils over into a riot.
Young-sook is devastated when her husband and son are killed and the young brain damaged woman who is now her sister-in-law is raped and murdered in front to the crowd.  She begs Mi-ja who is also there to take her other children to save them but Mi-ja refuses.

The years go by, Mi-ja eventually returns to the town but Young-sook avoids her.  She is outraged to learn that her daughter is seeing Mi-ja's son.  When the young people announce they are getting married Young-sook refuses to attend.  Eventually Mi-ja and the young people move to the U.S.  They send Young-sook letters but she only reads the first one.

Eventually Mi-ja's granddaughters (also Young-sook's granddaughters) come to town and want to speak to Young-sook, she ignores them repeatedly until she finally agrees to listen to a tape recording of Mi-ja.  Young-sook realized that she did not know the truth of what was going on and harbouring her hatred for so long (when many other people had suffered as much or more than she) was a  mistake.

This book was very hard to read and times but it was fascinating to get a better understanding of the history of south Korea.  It was a very powerful story and it was worth sticking through it to the end.