Island of the Sea Women, by Lisa See

Historic fiction combined with a personal saga 

Author Lisa See has written many enjoyable books, and The Island of the Sea Women is one of them, perhaps her best to date. This fascinating history of the women in a remote part of Korea who support their families and culture by deep sea diving for seafood also incorporated a touching story of friendship formed and strained.

Chance more or less brings the two young girls together but it is the history of Korea that forms their lives. Their experiences in the village’s all-female diving collective gave them purpose, confidence and status. As divers, they were the heads of household in everything except name. The stories of diving, in freezing waters, at great peril, with no protective wet suits or oxygen (until much later) was hair-raising, especially when the women were pregnant and still diving.  See did a masterful job of creating this world in all its detail, beautifully describing the prestige of the women and the great responsibilities they carried.

Family life and to a much greater extent, the outside world changed their lives. Their own misunderstandings, set in and among the Japanese occupation, then the Korean War and the American obsession with rooting out Communism upended their lives, amid great dangers to each of them and their families. As the years continued, heartaches created enmity. See winds the world events around personal tragedies and trials so that in the end, it is impossible to image how any of the characters could have behaved differently, even knowing the price of their actions.  As we consider the personal stories, it is just as unnerving to consider the impact of the many decades of foreign intervention on Korea and this tiny corner of it.

This is a powerful novel of women’s lives, set in a uniquely curious place and historically important time. All in all, a great read and we all really liked it, much as we wanted to shake the main characters periodically. Many thanks to Mary for hosting, what a lovely evening!

And so, on we go to the next book which is The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. For those of you who are not raving fans of this author, never fear, this one is really good. We will meet on Feb. 18 at 6:30. I think we are at Ashley’s house, Ashley can you confirm?

See you all then!