Fiction – Literary – Friendship – World Literature – Korea

Translated from the Korean by: e. yaewon & Paige Aniyah Morris

RELEASE DATE: 1/21/2025 (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER’S WAREHOUSE)

THE NEW NOVEL FROM HAN KANG, WINNER OF THE 2024 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

[Han Kangs] intense poetic prose . . . confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize

Unforgettable.Hernan Diaz

Han Kangs most revelatory book since The Vegetarian, We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter of Korean history.

One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved peta white bird called Ama.

A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseons house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animalor even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step. Lost in a world of snow, she doesn’t yet suspect the vertiginous plunge into the darkness that awaits her at her friend’s house.

Blurring the boundaries between dream and reality, We Do Not Part powerfully illuminates a forgotten chapter in Korean history, buried for decadesbringing to light the lost voices of the past to save them from oblivion. Both a hymn to an enduring friendship and an argument for remembering,it is the story of profound love in the face of unspeakable violenceand a celebration of life, however fragile it might be.

AUTHOR BIO:

Han Kangwas born in 1970 in South Korea. She is the author ofThe Vegetarian, winner of the International Booker Prize, as well asHuman Acts,The White Book,Greek Lessons,andWe Do Not Part. In 2024, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

TRANSLATOR BIO:

e. yaewonis based in Korea and translates from and into Korean, including titles by Hwang Jungeun, Deborah Levy, and Samuel Beckett.

Paige Aniyah Morrisdivides her time between the United States and Korea. Recent translations include works by Pak Kyongni, Ji-min Lee, and Chang Kang-myoung.

“[Han Kang’s] intense poetic prose . . . confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”–The Nobel Committee for Literature, in the citation for the Nobel Prize

“A visionary novel about history, trauma, art and its tremendous costs. Han Kang is one of the most powerfully gifted writers in the world. With each work, she transforms her readers, and rewrites the possibilities of the novel as a form.”–Katie Kitamura, author ofIntimacies

“A disquietingly beautiful novel about the impossibility of waking up from the nightmare of history. Hang Kang’s prose, as delicate as footprints in the snow or a palimpsest of shadows, conjures up the specters haunting a nation, a family, a friendship. Unforgettable.”–Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author ofTrust

“Haunting and dreamlike, this is a novel of secrets and silences.”–Silvia Moreno-Garcia, bestselling author ofMexican GothicandThe Seventh Seal of Salome

“Indelible. . . a meticulously rendered portrait of friendship, mother-daughter love, and hope in the face of profound loss. Kang is at the top of her game.”–Publishers Weekly,starred review