Review of The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See
Bella Mahoney led our discussion of The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See. Bella prefaced the discussion by commenting that she had been to Jeju the year the Rotary International Convention took place in South Korea and that she saw the female divers featured in The Island of Sea Women.
None of the readers was familiar with the tortured history of Jeju and its significance during World War II. The Island of Sea Women dove into this history in graphic detail and pulled the reader into the lasting effects one's affiliation with the invading Japanese or loyalty to the homeland had on individuals' lives from one generation to the next. These deep-seated divisions are still reinforced today.
Against this war-ravaged background is the story of the female divers who lived through it. The author brought the reader into the matriarchal society where the women supported the family while the men stayed home and cared for the young. Daughters were held in high esteem as future divers. The diving communities were led by the most experienced, most revered divers. Girls were introduced to diving in incremental, well-defined stages. The rules of diving were very well thought out. Not following the rules could result in death or severe disability.
The author also explored the dynamics of female friendships in this diving society. Working together harmoniously could mean the difference between life and death. Strong relationships between the women who were partnered together was not uncommon.
The author dove into the complexities of strong friendships that are tested by conflicting interpretations of the direction their country should go in dealing with an invading nation; the pressure of needing to support their husbands' views; opinions and thoughts that could not be expressed verbally; the heartbreak of years wasted hating and not forgiving.
Criticisms included a slow start and the hopping back and forth from time period to time period and back again which made following the story difficult. Praise included the level of detail used to describe the strong relationships among the women divers and the poignant points made about the breakdown of friendships and communities based on sides taken during the Japanese occupation.