Koffee & Kpop

여자 둘이 살고 있습니다 — Two Women Living Together

(김하나 , 황선우) — Kim Hana, Hwang Sunwoo

“Two Women Living Together” is the best-selling Korean memoir by Kim Hana and Hwang Sunwoo, two women who decide to toss aside Korean societal norms and purchase a house together as friends.

Written in changing POVs of the women, the book wasn’t really a good fit for something in a longer format. Sometimes the stories were repetitive and nothing new was added from the other perspective.

I liked how each woman’s personality came across both in her own words and the words of the other woman, and would have liked to see a little more of how they navigate daily life together. It was hard for me to relate the women.

I was most disappointed that there was no mention of same-sex couples in relation to the Life Partnership Relations Act, which the two women are building their lives together in the spirit of. Same-sex couples are the ones who will benefit the most immediately upon the passing of the Life Partnership Act, and yet the argument has been made that the Life Partnership Act should only be applied to heterosexual relationships, because otherwise it is “too close to same-sex marriage.” This would be more discrimination. Still others have expressed a desire to whittle down the bill to focus only on supporting children born out of wedlock.

If you’re interested in “DIY families” and a slice of life about two very different women who come together to live under the same roof as joint home-owners, this would be a good book to pick up.