Minbak

by Ela Lee

*A RADIO 2 WINTER BOOK CLUB PICK*


'A beautiful, tender story of displacement and loss which shows the resilience of the human spirit' Cecile Pin

'Deeply moving and graceful, it shines light on a secret slice of Korea’s history, gradually unveiling the secrets that bind – and divide – three generations' Silvia Park

A sweeping story of three generations of women who cross continents and decades to find truth, forgiveness and compassion.

Incheon, 1985. A nameless baby is born in a minbak in South Korea and vanishes nine days later.

London, 2008. When tragedy strikes, Hana faces ruin. She is forced to move her family – her teenage daughter Ada and ailing mother Youngja – into a single room with her, converting the rest of their home into a minbak, in a painful echo of her past life.

In the confined space of their shared room, there is nowhere to hide. As the past collides with the present, all three women are forced to face not only their family’s dark history, but that of an entire country.


‘Lyrical and devastating Minbak is a flawless meditation on memory, love and misunderstanding.’ Ella King

‘A poignant and precise novel by a writer of great skill’ Nicola Dinan

‘Had me utterly engrossed. An incredible story of love, conflict and heartbreak.’ Rosie Price

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 5, 2026

About the author

Ela Lee was born in 1995 and is a British-Korean-Turkish writer. She studied Law at the University of Oxford and went on to practise as a City lawyer. In 2021, during the global pandemic, Ela began work on her debut novel, JADED, which explores themes of consent, race, and identity. She lives in London, with her partner and their mini Aussie Shepherd.

Reviews

[suzannah ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, what a gorgeous book. one that has cemented ela lee as one of my new favourite authors. i absolutely loved her debut novel, jaded, and now minbak has blown me away too. just gorgeous writing and really powerful storytelling.

[Terry Rudge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expect this book to win awards during 2026

Minbak by Ela Lee is a quietly powerful novel that unfolds with patience and emotional clarity. At its core, this story is deeply rooted in culture and how it is preserved, strained, and reshaped across generations. I loved that Lee explored everything in depth but showed fragility in doing so.

What surprised me most was the beauty of the love in this book. The love of family through every challenge, showing that love is also complicated, imperfect, and often unspoken. Lee captures how love can exist alongside disappointment and distance, which made the relationships feel especially real

The shifting time periods do take some getting used to. While the transitions eventually add richness and perspective, there were moments early on where I had to pause and reorient myself.

Though there were places where I wished certain emotional threads had been explored a bit more deeply, Minbak remains a thoughtful and beautiful read. I enjoyed this book greatly

[alex alderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★
#pr — gifted

𝙩𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢, 𝙗𝙤𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙚𝙖. 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.

once again, ela lee brings a CORKER of a novel with 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗯𝗮𝗸. effortless storytelling mixed with vibrant, memorable characters, made this book so very good, and one of my top reads of 2025 🏆

after reading and loving 𝗷𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 last year (review posted on my grid, ★★★★½) I was super keen to read ela’s next book and had my hopes set high… and boy, this book delivered. grief, loss, heartbreak, displacement, secrets, lies, generational trauma + the things we do for the ones we love. and I’m BARELY scratching the surface here!! it’s unbelievable what ela covers in this book.

𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐭: three generations of women cross continents and decades to find truth, forgiveness and compassion. tragedy strikes mother and daughter, hana and ada, while they are living in london, and they are forced to convert their house into a minbak. youngja, hana’s mother, moves in with them and as her dementia settles deeper, the three women must face their family’s dark history and the life-shattering secret of an entire country, long overdue its exposure.

read if you like:

📕 multigenerational fiction novels
📕 truly gorgeous + tender writing that moves you
📕 authors who consistently deliver great new reads

*huge thank you to penguin vintage + ela for sending me an advanced proof, I cannot wait for everyone to read this wonderful novel and fall in love with ada, hana + youngja (coming march 2026!) 🫶

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minbak is a beautifully written multi-generational novel which covers many important themes. This is my first novel by Ela Lee but I will certainly read more. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of female generational relationships within a cultural lens.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I can say is WOW!
This is an emotional story following three generations of Korean women - a story filled with trauma, grief and compassion.
I thought it was beautifully written, moving from the past in 1980s to 2008 and capturing a very complicated time in Korean history. I thought the characters were written well and I liked being able to feel the emotion from each one of them - even those characters who only had a minor role.
I was hooked from the start and had to fight back tears at some points! I'm so glad I had the chance to read it.

Thank you Random House UK, Vintage & NetGalley for the advanced copy!

[Farah G · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Hana's husband Tim unexpectedly passes, leaving her with the responsibility of looking after her teenage daughter and elderly mother, she is forced to take an unusual step by opening up her home to temporary lodgers. In an echo of the past, Hana discovers that her mother also ran a lodging house of this kind - known as a minbak - when they lived in South Korea.

Shifting between Incheon, South Korea in the 90s and London in 2008, this is a compelling intergenerational story of family, history, culture, and relationships, as well as the impacts of generational trauma. Well worth checking out it gets 3.5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

[Sahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Vintage for the proof of one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I read Jaded when it came out and absolutely adored the writing and how honest and raw Ela’s writing was.

I will be back to review Minbak soon. I just need a minute to process it. It was everything and more though.

[BookOfCinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this story a lot! The author took us to Korea during a time in history that I have not read a lot about and introduced us to characters that I wont forget. This sweeping tale was entertaining and heart warming. I cant wait for more people to read this book.

[Lucy Skeet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous story. I didn’t love this quite as much as Jaded but I adored that and I think it’s rare that you love every book by the same author the same amount

Thanks so much to Harvil for my copy!

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've ever read. This is everything you could want from a novel; the prose is gorgeous (what else is there to expect from Ela Lee?) and the plot is perfectly character-driven (again, par for the course -- go read Jaded!).

But, what's perhaps most impressive, is the enormous degree of care that Lee has obviously given the subject matter. Authors can sometimes lean too heavily on the "fiction" half when writing historical fiction, but the amount of research (archival and interview-based) Lee conducted shines throughout the story, lending it credibility on every page.

There are very few writers who could've accomplished this. I cannot wait to see what she puts out next.

[Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book makes you feel all the feels, it packs so much emotion!