Memoir Monday... and This One Comes Naturally

Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo... From Goodreads: 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 Refusing to settle for the outdated choice between marriage or isolation, Hana and Sunwoo made a radical decision: to buy a home and live together—not as lovers, not as roommates, but as chosen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.

When we are young girls, we have sleepovers--with our girlfriends. When we go to college, we have roommates in college--that are women. But when we get married, we leave our girlfriends behind and build a life with our husbands. But if we find ourselves alone, why not embrace what we've done basically all of our lives, live with our girlfriends. Some may like to be alone, but we don't have to be alone. And Hana and Sunwoo chose not to be alone, and not to find a husband, but to find each other, and embrace female friendships. I am so fascinated with this book. On my wishlist!

First published in 2019, more recently in January 2026 by Ecco. 

P.S. This cover show is the UK cover, which I just love because of the cat tree!