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Book Summary and Reviews of Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana

Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana

Two Women Living Together

by Kim Hana

  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2026, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The big-hearted, bestselling South Korean memoir co-written by two best friends flouting gender norms and societal expectations with their decision to grow old together under one roof.

When most of their peers were moving in with romantic partners and having children, Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo chose independence—savoring solitude, quiet mornings, and the unmitigated freedom of living alone. But in their forties, something shifted, and they were met with a new, unexpected loneliness. Refusing to settle for the outdated choice between marriage or isolation, Hana and Sunwoo made a radical decision: to buy a home and live together—not as lovers, not as roommates, but as chosen family.

Now a bustling household of two women and four cats, Hana and Sunwoo still value solitude, but can do so while sharing a life and its meaning with someone else. Together they navigate the challenges and comforts of cohabiting in midlife, the growing pains of interdependence and the unexpected rewards of compromise when you've grown set in your ways. From sick days to career wins to aging parents and beach-side retirement plans, they are redefining domestic bliss on their own terms, where love, partnership, and home are defined not by tradition, but by choice.

With warmth, wit, and sharp social insight, Hana and Sunwoo share their blueprint for building a life outside the scripts of marriage and society's expectations for women. Two Women Living Together is a quiet revolution—a celebration of female friendship, community, and the many forms that love and family can take.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"A winning testament to the power of friendship." —Publishers Weekly

"Presented in propulsive alternating chapters, their journey together is an engaging, encouraging read, vulnerably revealing the struggles, joyfully celebrating their successes." ―Booklist

"Two Women Living Together is a wonderfully calming and cosy read. I always adore stories of women who choose to live beyond the confines of cultural expectation—and this book might just be my new favourite!" —Emma Gannon, author of Table for One

This information about Two Women Living Together was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Kim Hana

Kim Hana reads, writes, listens, and speaks. Her other books include Golden Bell Sound and Talking about Speaking. She is the co-host of the Two Women Talking Together podcast with her co-author and cohabitant Hwang Sunwoo. Currently, she is interested in how plants change according to the seasons.

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