The Island of Sea Women
Set on the Korean island of Jeju, *The Island of Sea Women* follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective. Over many decades—through the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, World War II, the Korean War, and the era of cellphones and wet suits for the women divers—Mi-ja and Young-sook develop the closest of bonds. Nevertheless, their differences are impossible to ignore: Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, forever marking her, and Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers. After hundreds of dives and years of friendship, forces outside their control will push their relationship to the breaking point. This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a unique and unforgettable culture, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Island of Sea Women
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
On the Korean island of Jeju in 1938, Young-sook and Mi-ja are two seven-year-olds learning to free dive with the haenyeo collective their mothers lead. Across Japanese colonial rule, the Second World War, the 1948 Jeju uprising, and decades after, the two friends share, and almost lose, a life.
Yes. The Island of Sea Women is fictional but built around the real haenyeo, female free divers of South Korea's Jeju Island. Lisa See researched the documented community extensively.
Both novels follow Korean women across decades of 20th-century history. The Island of Sea Women focuses specifically on Jeju Island and its community of women divers; Pachinko follows a Korean family in Japan.
The Island of Sea Women was written by Lisa See, published in 2019 by Scribner.
The Island of Sea Women is 384 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Island of Sea Women takes most readers 6 to 8 hours to finish.
The Island of Sea Women is a standalone novel by Lisa See, not part of a series.
The Island of Sea Women is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.