cheju island (korea)

Follows the lives of Mi-ja and Young-sook, two very different girls living on the Korean island of Jeju. The girls bond when they begin working in the sea with their village's all-female diving group. However, after decades of friendship, forces out of their control threaten the women's relationship.

Follows the lives of Mi-ja and Young-sook, two very different girls living on the Korean island of Jeju. The girls bond when they begin working in the sea with their village's all-female diving group. However, after decades of friendship, forces out of their control threaten the women's relationship.

The story of two friends from different backgrounds that begins during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s followed by World War II, the Korean War, and up through the era of cell phones and wet suits for women divers. When Mi-ja and Young-sook are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village's all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook's mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility but also danger.

"Dayeon wants to to be just like her haenyeo grandma (a free diver off the coast of Jeju Island), but she's afraid of the water"--Provided by the publisher.

Jae Hyun dreams of being a haenyo like her mother and grandmother and collect seaweed and sea creatures to support her family one day, but, because her mother forbids it because it is dangerous, she must find a way to prove to her she can do it, and, when a tragedy strikes, she has the chance to do so.