The Island of Sea Women

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Yu-ri giggled at our shivering, telling us that eventually we’d get used to being cold all the time. “Four years ago, I was just like you, and now look at me,” she boasted. 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. I have finished this and I still do not think I can write a proper review. I really do not know how I feel about this one.

Sumbisori is a vocal practice based on a breathing technique used by whales and seals.” https://www.liminaldome.com/sumbisori Political turmoil and upheaval eventually sets their lives on a different course and one of the girls commits an unforgivable act that severs the relationship for decades. I loved the themes of friendship, betrayal, guilt, and forgiveness that these two women embodied. No one does complex, powerful female friendships quite like Lisa See, and there was a strong theme of female relationships among the families and diving collective. I was spellbound the moment I entered the vivid and little-known world of the diving women of Jeju. Set amid sweeping historical events,The Island of Sea Women is the extraordinary story of Young-sook and Mi-ja, of women’s daring, heartbreak, strength, and forgiveness. No one writes about female friendship, the dark and the light of it, with more insight and depth than Lisa See.” The softest frown crinkles the space above the bridge of the woman’s nose. “But didn’t you both live in this village?”There is nothing better than a well researched historical fiction novel. This book was extensive in its detail of the fictional lives of its two principal protagonists Mi-Ja and Young-Sook. It was was a book seeped in detail, filled with sorrow, and the ideal of friendship, and although hard to conceptualize at times, the things these women endured, it was a riveting story of strength, valor, and fortitude. Shaman Kim chanted a few more incantations. The helpers banged their cymbals and drums. After that, there was nothing left to say or do. I found this novel absolutely fascinating as I learned more about this women-focused society I had only heard about a few times prior. The communal spirit of this culture was so inspiring. But this story mirrors the depths of the sea as it alternates between present day (2008) and past (1938-1975), showing the evolution of relationships, suffering and cultural generation gaps that transition traditions into past tense. Please know this story is absolutely heartbreaking in its journe

I’m on a boat with a group of Korean grandmothers—but it’s not a cruise ship and there’s no shuffleboard in sight. It’s a motorboat and these elderly ladies are sporting wetsuits and goggles. They’re in their 60s, 70s, even 80s, and they’re about to jump into the ocean with what look like small garden hoes in hand. READ MORE On the tiny island of Jeju in South Korea, live the “Sea Women”, the haenyeo. Starting at a young age under the tutelage of their elders, girls undergo rigorous training to dive the depths of the ocean and harvest sea urchins, octopus, and other delicacies from the ocean floor. And they do it in icy waters wearing only a thin, homemade cotton swim costume, with no oxygen tank or other diving apparatus.I feel badly, like I missed something and if I did, please feel free to comment. I think the writer wanted Mi-ja to be forgiven but I just could not because I did not understand why she did what she did in the first place.