Sumi Hahn

The Mermaid from Jeju

I like how this can be interpreted as only beasts should nurture their agony alone, and even then everyone should be able to lean on a community.

bri (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

Where had he nursed his agony, alone like a beast?

The loss of her daughter, however, had broken something that now rattled like bones inside her.

“Never forget you’re a haenyeo, a woman worth two men.”

“Don’t take too many chances with the ocean, because I want to marry you.”

Junja slapped Suwol on the arm. “Shh, stop your crazy talk.” She wanted to sound angry, but her heart was thudding with such joy that she had to push Suwol away, to stop herself from embracing him. “Go ahead, get out of here.”

The boy laughingly bowed in jest and crossed his fingers, holding them up in promise as he jogged away.

He grew weak because men need pride to be strong.

An educational and insightful read about the women of Jeju. I walked into this book thinking it was going to be a fantasy— about fairy tale mermaids from the small Korean island—but I was pleasantly surprised that this unexpected route of war, love, and female power was a true page turner. Hanh wrote a powerful piece that shares Jeju's historical roots in a poetic and beautiful way. Even if there are several violences and deaths, Hanh cradled these scenes with care. I loved that the romance in the novel pushed the plot forward and at times was a cute, wholesome break from the more heavy scenes. All couples were ones I rooted for and through their love, themes like grief, class, patriarchy, and even culinary cultures were uplifted. Overall, this was an enjoyable, easy read and I recommend it to those who want to deepen their knowledge about Jeju and enjoy a fast-paced story written almost like a song.

While the book starts out slow and relatively unassuming, the second half is a rollercoaster. Open mouth sobbed for the last several chapters

Isabella 

the writing style is beautiful!! i really enjoyed reading this book, but there was a lot going on, and there were too much skips that it started to get confusing; i wanted to read more of about one scene, then suddenly it gets cut off. i liked the second half, but i wished they continued more on the first half. (view spoiler)[what happened to suwol?? (hide spoiler)] i also hope we got more of the grandmother ): overall, considering it's a debut novel, it's a good read!

Rachel Kwon

The Mermaid of Jeju

olivia campbell

Kristen Schutzer

A POPSUGAR Best Book of December 2020 An AMAZON Editors Pick December 2020 A SHE READS Best Historical Fiction Novel Winter 2021 A BUSTLE Most Anticipated Winter 2021 Read A LIBRO.FM Influencer Pick, December 2020 Inspired by true events on Korea's Jeju Island, Sumi Hahn's "entrancing [debut] novel, brimming with lyricism and magic" (Jennifer Rosner, The Yellow Bird Sings) explores what it means to truly love in the wake of devastation. In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep sea diver in a family of strong haenyeo. Confident she is a woman now, Junja urges her mother to allow her to make the Goh family's annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade abalone and other sea delicacies for pork. Junja, a sea village girl, has never been to the mountains, where it smells like mushrooms and earth. While there, she falls in love with a mountain boy Yang Suwol, who rescues her after a particularly harrowing journey. But when Junja returns one day later, it is just in time to see her mother take her last breath, beaten by the waves during a dive she was taking in Junja's place. Spiraling in grief, Junja sees her younger siblings sent to live with their estranged father. Everywhere she turns, Junja is haunted by the loss of her mother, from the meticulously tended herb garden that has now begun to sprout weeds, to the field where their bed sheets are beaten. She has only her grandmother and herself. But the world moves on without Junja. The political climate is perilous. Still reeling from Japan's forced withdrawal from the peninsula, Korea is forced to accommodate the rapid establishment of US troops. Junja's canny grandmother, who lived through the Japanese invasion that led to Korea's occupation understands the signs of danger all too well. When Suwol is arrested for working with and harboring communists, and the perils of post-WWII overtake her homelands, Junja must learn to navigate a tumultuous world unlike anything she's ever known.

The Mermaid from Jeju

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