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Event Series Event Series: DPL Book Club

DPL Book Club: The Island of Sea Women

08/16/2023 @ 6:30 pm 8:00 pm

Please note that August’s previous selected title, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, has been delayed until further notice due to extremely high borrowing volume and low availability of copies.

August’s new selection is The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See.

THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN 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 strikingly different backgrounds who bond over their shared love of the sea. Working in their village’s all-female diving collective, the two friends come of age in a community where gender roles are anything but typical. Here, 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.

Over the years, Young-sook and Mi-ja endure together the loss of parents, the dramas of marriage and childbirth, cruel family members, disruptive technological advances, and the ever-present dangers that accompany their livelihood. They also face growing unrest from the political turmoil that surrounds their homeland: Japanese occupation gives way to World War II, the Korean War, and its aftermath, leaving the residents of Jeju caught between warring empires. The daughter of a Japanese collaborator, Mi-ja will forever bear the mark of her father’s activities, while Young-sook looks poised to inherit her mother’s role as the leader of her village diving collective. As their husbands’ political ties and tumultuous world events threaten their friendship, Young-sook and Mi-ja see their remote island and everything they have known upended.

As of May’s meeting, the book club will now meet at Dormont Public Library, 2950 West Liberty Ave. from 6:30 PM to 8 PM. There is no longer a beverage charge for the meeting. Adults 21 and over are welcome to BYOB.

Registration is requested; to register, please call 412-531-8754 or email dormont@dormontlibrary.org.

Copies of the book are available for request at Dormont Library. eBook and eAudio copies of the book are available through Libby.

Details

Date:
08/16/2023
Time:
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Series:
Event Category:
2950 W Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15216 United States
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Click the LibraryCalendar link above for online registration.
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