Mi-ja and Young: two women from very different backgrounds, but both part of their village’s all-female diving collective on the island of Jeju off South Korea.

Over many decades, they develop the closest of bonds. But their differences are impossible to ignore and forces beyond their control will push their friendship to breaking point.

Set during the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, the Second World War and the Korean War, The Island of Sea Women is a story of women’s friendships that illuminates a unique and unforgettable culture, and introduces readers to remarkable female divers and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.