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Also by Ela Lee:

Minbak, February 2027
Hardcover / e-Book
Jaded, March 2025
Trade Paperback
Jaded, March 2024
Hardcover / e-Book

MINBAK
By: Ela Lee

St. Martin's Press
February 2027
On Sale: February 16, 2027
352 pages
ISBN: 1250448263
EAN: 9781250448262
Kindle: B0GX2NQBHK
Hardcover / e-Book
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Women's Fiction Historical

"A beautifully written and gorgeous novel." ‑Marjan Kamali, New York Times bestselling author of The Lion Women of Tehran

Minbak (n.) a lodging in a private home

Korea, 1985: Hana Park's future is bright. A star student and beloved daughter, she dreams of a life beyond working at her family's local minbak. After a devastating encounter with a foreign guest, Hana flees Korea's dictatorship for London to capture the future she so desperately desires, leaving her heartbroken mother Youngja to pick up the pieces.

London, 2008: When her husband dies unexpectedly in the midst of the global financial crisis, Hana is left with a pile of debt and no way to pay it off. With her teenage daughter Ada and a declining Youngja relying on her, she has no choice but to move her family into one bedroom and open the rest of their home to paying guests as a minbak.

As tragedy brings the three women together, old tensions surface, and the family's long‑hidden secrets threaten to erupt. With no one to turn to but each other, Hana, Youngja, and Ada must confront their complex history, crossing continents and generations to find truth, forgiveness, and compassion.