Sea Bunny Voyager
asked
Lisa See:
Hi Lisa, thank you for answering all of our questions! I just finished “The Island of Sea Women” (I loved it) and was wondering... When writing this one, did you write the 2008 chapters separate from the ‘past’ chapters and then consolidate them together at the end? Or did you write continuously through? I know you start with the last line, but how did it progress from there?
Lisa See
What a great question! It's also one I've never gotten before. I wrote the 2008 chapters as I was writing. That was really hard, because I wanted to lay in clues but also not give too much away. For example, you learn that Young-sook's daughter dies from Clara, even though that daughter hasn't yet been revealed as Young-sook's daughter. It was a true balancing act. And really challenging!
More Answered Questions
Grace
asked
Lisa See:
Hi Lisa, I just finished the Island of the Sea Women and I loved it! I visited Jeju-do in 2015, and while many of the tourist attractions mentioned in the book were familiar to me, I have no memory of learning about the 4-3 incident, so I was enthralled by this book. I am wondering what sources you relied on to build this story, since it obviously has a controversial history? Thank you for writing it!
Bkwmlee
asked
Lisa See:
Hi Lisa! I just wanted to say thank you for writing "The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane." It's one of my favorite books -- the ending was absolutely beautiful and made me cry. As a Chinese-American myself, Li-yan's story really touched me on a personal level and made me think about my relationship with my family. Oh, I also have a fondness for tea, so that part was fascinating! Lee L. from So Cal :-) (had to add ?)
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