Staff Picks

Lisa See has written another very appealing women's interpersonal story and has thoroughly educated me about the world of the haenyeo. I have been intrigued with this unique, matriarchal society of sea-diving women living on the Island of Jeju off the coast of South Korea ever since I caught a short documentary about them a few years ago called, Haenyeo: Women of the Sea. It is clear that Lisa See did an enormous amount of research and has revealed their centuries-long culture in very minute detail. She gives you insight through her two main characters, Young-sook and her best friend Mi-ja, following them from the 1930s to 2008, from the Japanese occupation, through the Korean War when the Americans took over, to modern-day society and technology. As they struggle through oppression, famine, betrayal, and the horrors of war, they do their very best to keep their long held beliefs and fiercely held traditions.

 

The haenyeo are renowned for their physical abilities to withstand the extreme pressures of sea diving, freezing water temperatures, and holding their breath for extended lengths of time. And all without the benefit of that "modern" technology like oxygen tanks or even snorkels, or wetsuits, or full face goggles, which came much later. They are the proud providers of food and wealth for their families as harvesters of the sea while the men did not work and took care of the children. But at the same time, they are more worldly than you would think. They were never isolated--they traveled to locations all over the Pacific coast, from Jeju up to Vladivostok. Some of them would go off to the big cities and were even fortunate enough to be educated in bigger universities in China. But that meant that the haenyeo have become a dying breed. Very few of them remain today, but they still strive to maintain their culture.

 

Publisher's description

While working as divers with the all-female diving collective on a small Korean island, Mi-ja and Young-sook find their friendship challenged by their differences and forces outside their control.

I loved this beautifully written tale of Hawaiian gods, history and family ties. It gives a real feel about Hawaii like the movie "The Descendants" did. Serious, funny, and insightful, this authentic Hawaiian voice brings Island life and legend into full to view. With wit and colloquial flair, this novel accurately evokes a place and culture. Very thoughtful and entertaining.

 

Publisher Description:

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa's family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods--a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family's legacy. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai'i--with tragic consequences--they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.