I had read a lot of positive reviews of Lisa See's books, but this is the first one I've actually read - and it will not be the last. This novel follows a diving collective of haenyeo, or sea women, on the Korean Island of Jeju during Japanese colonialism, World War II and the Korean War. Despite having a background in political science, this is an era/place I did not know much about, and it was fascinating. However, because I didn't know what was coming this book packed a real wallop; this is not a light, happy read, so fair warning.
While I loved that the book opened my eyes to some parts of history I somehow knew nothing about, I also just really loved the culture explored in this book. It was, as See describes it, a "matrifocal" culture, where the men often cared for the children and did the cooking and much of the other household chores, while the women worked outside the home and did most of the providing.
It was really fascinating to see gender stereotypes turned on their head, and to see her depiction of how these women saw themselves and their families. It was also really interesting and enlightening to see how they reacted to and saw the colonizers - first the Japanese, then the US. These women were truly bad ass, and I was in awe of what they did in their daily lives, much less in the turbulent times described in the book.
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| Modern day haenyeo, 2012. By 김형찬 |
See's website also includes some great material on her research into the haenyeo, particularly here and here. She also includes a link out to a 1975 documentary on the divers, here. She gives a great head start for anyone who wants to do a little more reading into the topic.
Overall, this book ticked all the boxes for me. Fascinating era in history, check. Fascinating culture, check. Interesting characters, check. Tackles difficult topics in a sensitive way, check. Good drama and suspense, check. Highly recommend.
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