Doubleday pre-empts 'reflective' essay collection from South Korean writers Hwang Sunwoo and Kim Hana

Doubleday has pre-empted Hwang Sunwoo and Kim Hana’s Two Women Living Together, a South Korean collection of 51 "reflective, funny and inspiring mini essays" about the authors’ choice to live together "as two single, middle-aged women". Translated by Gene Png, the book will be published in October 2025 with "charming" illustrations. 

Non-fiction publisher Susanna Wadeson signed UK & Commonwealth rights in a "significant" deal from Edwina de Charnace at Mulcahy Sweeney Associates on behalf of BC Agency, Seoul. North American rights were also acquired in a pre-empt by Deborah Ghim at Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Wadeson said: "Two Women Living Together slices through fixed assumptions about Korean society, and gender roles and norms more generally, presenting us with a fresh, witty portrait of a new kind of family: one that is childfree, built on friendship, shared values and a love of cats. It is joyful."

The book documents Sunwoo’s and Hana’s thoughts on housing insecurity, solo dining, access to health care, "stigmatised cat ladies" and "the self-sacrificing demands of filial piety and obligations to in-laws". 

Hana said: "After two women and four cats decided to buy a house and live in it together, all kinds of interesting things started to happen. One of them is that this story will now reach readers in new continents." 

Sunwoo added: "I hope this story reaches many women who believe they can choose and create their own lives."

According to the publisher, Two Women Living Together has sold 56,000 copies in Korea.