The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

On November 30th Laura Derrickson hosted us to discuss her book

“The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See.

We had a phenomenal perfect attendance which has not occurred

for a very long time. Somehow Laura made it work. We were all 13 comfortably

seated as we each shared our thoughts.

The friendship of the two women and the heartbreaking rift was important

to everyone. The need for forgiveness was cited and necessary for self

preservation..The uniqueness of the diving Haenyo women who engage in dangerous 

free diving to harvest food from the ocean was also high on the impressive list.

We even engaged in a little fun experiment to see how long we could hold our breaths.

We discussed the roles of men versus women in that particular Jeju Island

scenario and the various traditional beliefs of Shamanism, Christianity and Confucianism.

Everyone also admitted to learning some new facts about the Japanese occupation 

of Korea and the brutal reality of their civil war as well as the American part in

shaping today’s Korea.

We then retreated to dine on beautifully set tables where we enjoyed salad, 

spinach pasta, and home made key lime pie. All of this accompanied by

lots of wine, beer, and even scotch.

As some people stated it was a great way to kick off the Holiday season.

Molly chose “The Swans of Fifth Avenue” by Melanie Benjamin and January 18,

was set for the next meeting.