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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.
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.
'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

‘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

© Ela Lee 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

Minbak is an absolutely brilliant novel that had me utterly engrossed. An incredible story of love, conflict and heartbreak across three generations, from South Korea to London. This is the story of a hidden history — of a family and a country — being dragged into the light, and of what it means to both lose a home and remake one. A beautiful and captivating novel that I wholeheartedly recommend!
Rosie Price
Lyrical and devastating, MINBAK is a flawless meditation on memory, love and misunderstanding. Destined to be a modern classic
Ella King
With love and care, Minbak unearths a dark page of history that has long been in the shadows. Ela Lee has written a beautiful, tender story of displacement and loss which shows the resilience of the human spirit, and the family ties that transcend all wounds
Cecile Pin
MINBAK is a poignant and precise novel by a writer of great skill. Each of the interweaving narratives exposes the rippling injustice of a global industry too often ignored, bringing so powerfully to life the pain it visits upon these beautifully drawn characters
Nicola Dinan
It takes great skill to expose the dark and unsettling with a light and tender touch. Minbak is a story of family, displacement, and forgiveness that’s richly layered, deeply felt, and as lyrical as it is propulsive
Chloë Ashby
Minbak aches with the unspeakable nature of loss. 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
Minbak is a stunning portrayal of love, duty, race, and transformation against the alternating backdrops of two nations in turmoil. Ela Lee writes with compassion and great wisdom about the dark depths of the human soul - and the possibility of redemption
Juhea Kim, internationally bestselling author of Beasts of a Little Land and City of Night Birds
A story of profound loss across three generations of Korean women, paradoxically told with a rich sense of presence and history. Ela Lee proves herself a master storyteller
Anton Hur
Minbak is a powerful, heartrending family saga that traces the long shadow of grief against the backdrop of Korea’s paper orphans. Lee writes with a quiet, aching honesty that remained with me long after I turned the final page
Monika Kim
Minbak is one of those novels that challenges you to see beyond what is front of you, examining the bonds of family, the consequences of sacrifice and pride and shows you that life is a series of decisions, not all of which are within our control. This is a truly gripping and beautiful book that I’ll be thinking about for a long, long time
Ore Agbaje Williams

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