In We Do Not Part, Han Kang faces unbearable historical traumas with sorrow and compassion

We Do Not Part tells the story of Kyungha, a writer of 20th-century South Korean history, and her longterm friend Inseon, a documentary filmmaker and photographer, both of whom have been traumatised by their professional research into institutionally authorised massacres. The novel is told in three parts. The long first section establishes the context in a comparatively linear narrative of past and present. The shorter middle part is a deep dive into the horrors of history. The ending is very short, told in fragments. The novel ends with what seems to be a dream, where the two women light a candle in the dark, in the depths of snow.