A review by saralynnburnett
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
4.0
Lisa See has done it again. Another fantastic novel with complicated relationships between women, a feminist bent, and intriguing historical research.
I love reading the acknowledgements at the end of books and the one here was chapter length. Plus, it seems like she remembered every single person she called, spoke to on Jeju, or came within an arms length of there and thanked them. It was so interesting to see how one brief encounter with a person unveiled a little detail that was then woven throughout the novel, making all the more real. You can really tell how much research went into recreating with accuracy the communities on Jeju, the historic events that took place through several generations on the island, and the amazing groups of Haenyeo tending to their ‘wet fields’ in the sea.
I wanted to know how to say the Jeju / Haenyeo in my head as I read and found this video quite helpful, and was a brief but interesting looks at what you’ll see in this novel.
I love reading the acknowledgements at the end of books and the one here was chapter length. Plus, it seems like she remembered every single person she called, spoke to on Jeju, or came within an arms length of there and thanked them. It was so interesting to see how one brief encounter with a person unveiled a little detail that was then woven throughout the novel, making all the more real. You can really tell how much research went into recreating with accuracy the communities on Jeju, the historic events that took place through several generations on the island, and the amazing groups of Haenyeo tending to their ‘wet fields’ in the sea.
I wanted to know how to say the Jeju / Haenyeo in my head as I read and found this video quite helpful, and was a brief but interesting looks at what you’ll see in this novel.