Book Group will meet from 3:00-5:00 pm on January 27, at the home of Mary Jean Patric.  Please call Mary Jean at 585-727-7270  or email her  if you plan to attend.

We will be discussing The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See. This story offers up an evocative tale of two best friends whose bonds are both strengthened and tested over decades by forces beyond their control. Set largely on the remote Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Young-sook and Mi-ja, girls from very different backgrounds who bond over their shared love of the sea.

Working in their village’s all-female diving collective, searching for seaweed and shellfish deep in the sea, the two friends mature in a community where gender roles are anything but typical. Women are the primary breadwinners, the heads of household in all but name, and yet, as Mi-ja and Young-sook come to realize, there are limits to their control that can prove devastating. The island faces growing unrest from the political turmoil that surrounds their homeland, as Japanese occupation gives way to World War II, the Korean War, and its aftermath. The story is based on the lives of haenyeo, actual sea divers!