

I recommend this as a companion read it was an incredible novel. It too, casts haneyeo in the book, although the story is completely different.

Although haenyeo is new to many readers, I was fortunate enough to read White Chrysanthemum a few years ago. The Island of Sea Women was an adventure into another place and time, filled with deep love, intense friendships, hardships of war and the integrity of being an honorable haenyeo. Little do the two friends know that after surviving hundreds of dives and developing the closest of bonds, forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, and she will forever be marked by this association. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires.

Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook’s differences are impossible to ignore. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds.
