Minbak

Our latest Brunch Book Club reading guide explores Minbak by Ela Lee, a quietly powerful and emotionally layered novel examining migration, motherhood, silence, political upheaval and generational trauma.

Set between 1980s South Korea and 2008 London, Minbak follows three women navigating memory, sacrifice and belonging across decades and continents. In this reading guide, we explore the novel’s central themes, discuss the emotional impact of family secrets and inherited trauma, and consider the historical realities that shape the story beneath the surface.

Inside you’ll find thoughtful book club discussion questions, further reading on the South Korean adoption scandal and diaspora identity, plus recommendations for readers who loved Minbak and want to continue exploring stories of womanhood, survival and intergenerational connection.

Perfect for book clubs, reading groups and literary fiction lovers looking for meaningful conversation starters and deeper context around one of the year’s most moving novels.

“As far as Hana was concerned, she was the ocean, and he was the sun. At the end of the day, nothing could stop two from fading into one”

Title: Minbak
Author: Ela Lee
Published: March 2026

The night the baby without a surname was born, the army rolled into his mother’s town.

Incheon, South Korea, 1985. The country is revolting against a dictatorship, but in the local boarding-house, the chaos inside is only just beginning. When Hana is pulled from school to work in her family’s minbak, all she wants is to escape her small town. When she finally does, she leaves as an exile, a ruin, or a martyr, depending on who you ask. Her mother Youngia is left behind with the torment of both of their decisions.

London, 2008. Ada knows little about her mother, Hana. When tragedy hits, Hana has no choice but to move her daughter and ailing mother into a single room and turn the rest of their home into a minbak. As the past collides with the present, Ada is determined to unearth her mother’s secrets. But her obsession will lead to a discovery that unravels not just her family’s dark past, but that of an entire country’s.

From Korea’s industrial estates to London’s suburbs, the three women cross continents and generations to find truth, forgiveness and compassion.

Discussion Questions

1. The title Minbak refers to a guesthouse or boarding house, a place people pass through rather than settle in. How does the idea of temporary shelter mirror the emotional lives of Hana, Youngja and Ada? Did any of the characters ever truly feel “at home”?

2. The novel moves between 1985 South Korea and 2008 London. How did the shifting timelines shape your understanding of the characters and their choices? Did learning certain truths later change how you viewed earlier events?

3. Minbak explores the ways trauma can echo across generations. In what ways do Hana, Youngja and Ada inherit each other’s fears, silences or coping mechanisms, even when things are left unspoken?

4. Hana’s life is shaped by duty, sacrifice and survival. Did you sympathise with the choices she made, even when they caused harm to others? Where did you find yourself conflicted with her character?

5. The novel touches on the different expectations placed on boys and girls within family and society. How did gender shape the opportunities, freedoms and burdens experienced by the women in the story?

6. Throughout the book, secrets are kept in the name of protection, shame or survival. Do you think silence can ever truly protect a family, or does it inevitably create distance and pain?

7. Ada exists between cultures, generations and expectations. How did her experience as a second-generation immigrant differ from Hana’s experience as someone who directly lived through political upheaval and migration? Did you relate to Ada’s search for identity or belonging?

8. The backdrop of South Korea’s political instability and the adoption scandal is handled in a subtle, deeply personal way rather than through dramatic historical retelling. Did this “quietly powerful” approach make the story more emotionally impactful for you, or did you want the historical context explored more directly?

9. The image of the unnamed baby at the beginning of the novel hangs over the entire story. What do you think the significance of a child being born without a surname or clear identity represents within the wider themes of the novel?

10. Much of the novel centres on women whose stories have historically been ignored, erased or hidden. By the end of the book, what did you feel Ela Lee was trying to say about memory, motherhood and whose stories society chooses to preserve?