Jeju, an island off the mainland of South Korea, with warm air, beaches and tall mountains, now attracts tourists and Korean honeymooners. It’s famous for its haenyeo, the strong, courageous women who dive for sea creatures and gather seaweed onshore. But Jeju has had an extremely sad and violent history.

For The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See has deeply researched the haenyeo and the history and politics of Jeju from 1938 to portray the lives of two haenyeo, Young-sook and Mi-ja, and their families through many years of Japanese colonisation, and the horror during the American occupation after 1945. The Korean Government labels the practice of sea-diving as a cultural heritage treasure that must be preserved. See shows us why.

Her detailed descriptions of the ghostly underwater environment, the food gathered from the seabed, the equipment and clothes used for diving, and the rituals carried out before the haenyeo dive are fascinating. The hazardous activities of collecting abalone and octopus create suspense and drama. The depth they dive to and the time spent without breathing is amazing. Under the water, Young-sook’s concerns melt away as her concentration is totally trained on searching for sea creatures and keeping herself alive.

Jeju was a matrifocal society, not only because the fathers looked after the children while the mothers dived to feed and raise their families, but also because their shamanistic religion is centred around goddesses.

In 2008, Young-sook, now 85, is approached by a family of American tourists. The Korean wife desperately wants information about her grandmother, Mi-ja, who lived and worked in the same village as Young-sook in 1938, but Young-sook refuses to help. This is a mystery as Mi-ja and Young-sook were best friends and diving partners from childhood. This mystery slowly and dramatically unravels.

After 1945, the crimes against the people of Jeju by their own countrymen from the mainland, overlooked by the American military occupation, shape the future of the island. While this depravity shocks me, I was absorbed by the possibility of forgiveness breaking through the dark shadow left where close bonds of friendship have been destroyed.

Reviewed by Judith Grace