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MINBAK
Ela Lee
  • Published: 3 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781787303690
  • Imprint: Harvill Secker
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $34.99

MINBAK

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
3 Mar 2026
Hardback
5 Apr 2026
EBook
5 Mar 2026
Audiobook
5 Mar 2026
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Minbak tells the story of three generations of Korean women, forced to live in one room when they open up their home in London as a guesthouse, and the secrets which bind and break them.

‘Ela Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction' Stacey Halls, bestselling author of The Household

'Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page.' Cecile Pin, bestselling author of Wandering Souls

London, 2008: When her husband dies unexpectedly, Hana is left with a pile of debt and no way to pay it off. With her teenage daughter Ada and her declining mother Yuna relying on her, she has no choice but to move her family into one room, opening up the rest of their home to paying guests as a minbak.

Korea, 1985. Hana was in the same place; running a minbak with her mother and making some life-altering mistakes. Living with Yuna again brings back long-archived secrets for Hana, and, eventually, the truth of what happened over twenty years ago comes erupting to the surface. Eventually, the three women are forced to confront how little they know about each other, and whether it will bring them closer or break them apart.
  • Published: 3 March 2026
  • ISBN: 9781787303690
  • Imprint: Harvill Secker
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $34.99
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About the author

Ela Lee

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.

portrait photo of Ela Lee

Also by Ela Lee

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Praise for MINBAK

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

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