Minbak

byEla Lee, Ela Lee (Read by)

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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

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

About 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.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • ISBN: 9781529970630
  • Length: 626 minutes
  • Price: £14.00
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