More here:Ā Musings on The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn
So, if youāre like me, you must have stumbled upon Lisa Seeās books. Books like The Island of Sea Women, which, in all honesty, was exquisite. It was an amazing, emotional, sensitive, empathetic, historical book that left you and me thirsting for more stories about haenyeo and about Jeju. Now, when I saw the title of this book, The Mermaid from Jeju, obviously, I knew it was talking about haenyeo and not mermaids, real mermaids. So, I picked it up, very excited, with lots of hopes, and really thinking that Iād get a story centered on the divers.
But everything goes a bit differently.
We take a deep dive into our main characterās life, from youth to old age and even death, and we see Jeju Island in the years just after World War II, around 1948. That was an unstable, turbulent time: Japanese troops had just withdrawn, U.S. troops came in, and political instability was everywhere. The story really begins when Junja, the daughter of a haenyeo, wants to take the abalone across Mount Hallasan to trade for pork. Normally her mother would make this yearly trip, but Junja decides itās her turn to step into responsibility. On the way she meets Yang Suwol, a mountain boy ā and you can already guess where thatās going. At the house where she trades, she discovers the woman there is actually her motherās close friend. Suddenly, Junja feels guilty for having taken her motherās place on the trip, realizing that by doing so, she may have stolen her motherās chance to see her friend.
When she returns home, tragedy strikes: her mother has drowned while diving. At first, everyone believes it was an accident, but gradually we see the broader picture ā political upheaval, ideological battles, arrests, and social turmoil creeping even into Junjaās family.
One of the strongest aspects of the book is how it deals with grief, loss, and memory through a Jeju lens ā not āKoreanā in general, but specifically Jeju culture, with its own customs, dialect, and worldview. I especially liked seeing how Junja navigates her grief, the tragedies that keep piling up, her sudden marriage, and the complicated family dynamics. Hierarchy, relationships, status, generational ties ā all of it is filtered through Jejuās cultural perspective, which makes it both fascinating and deeply specific.
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