Intentar ORO - Gratis

Just good friends

The Guardian Weekly

|

February 06, 2026

The Korean bestseller on platonic partnership and what it means for the rest of us

- By Tiffany Watt Smith

When Sunwoo and Hana met on Twitter, they were in their 40s and committed bachelorettes. Both studied in Seoul before entering the city's rat race, Sunwoo as a fashion journalist, Hana as a copywriter. They shared the same taste in music and books, and importantly, both had rejected marriage.

Instead, Sunwoo and Hana joined the large number of South Koreans living alone. At first, independence felt exhilarating. By middle age, however, loneliness was beginning to gnaw.

Two Women Living Together, a 2019 South Korean bestseller that spawned a popular podcast, charts Sunwoo and Hana's decision to buy a house together and live as friends.

Across 49 warm, chatty essays, they invite us into the life.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE The Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly

A witness to the war

A striking interrogation of language in an age of mechanical mass destruction

time to read

3 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly

'It's not just surviving' Life goes on in cellars of frontline city

Galyna Lutsenko, a crisis psychologist, is moving busily among a group of children in a basement in Kherson, unique in being Ukraine's only leading city almost directly on the frontline with Russian forces - and where people live with the daily threat of attack.

time to read

4 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly

Feeling the heat: small towns at risk of burning

As the temperatures break records in the dry, flat Mallee region, concerned residents take refuge in air-conditioned rooms

time to read

4 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

What does Melania the film tell us of Mrs Trump?

Brett Ratner's $40m film, which had a 'black-carpet' premiere at the Kennedy Center, has been marketed with the gusto of a Hollywood blockbuster

time to read

3 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

The dog's training now has me hiding behind trees

It is rare for my wife and I to do a midweek dog walk together, but on this particular afternoon I find myself at a loose end, and volunteer to come along.

time to read

2 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly

Young voters are drawn to our conservative PM. What's her appeal?

Japan has rarely seen a prime minister as bold or as social media-savvy as Sanae Takaichi, the country's first female leader.

time to read

3 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

EU response to Washington bullying is to build bridges with India and Vietnam

For the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU's trade pact with India was the \"mother of all deals\".

time to read

2 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly

Trump's post-truth agenda hit as ICE lies fail to land

\"Our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts.\"

time to read

3 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

Miso mystery: red, white or yellow paste, what's the difference?

What miso paste should I use for what dish?

time to read

2 mins

February 06, 2026

The Guardian Weekly

The Guardian Weekly

Musk, Mandelson and 'The Duke' What we learned from latest release of the Epstein files

The US justice department last week released millions of files related to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the largest disclosure by the government since a law passed last year said the documents should be published.

time to read

5 mins

February 06, 2026

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size