Former lawyer turned novelist, Ela Lee, joins Sara in the Radio 2 Book Club for a chat about her new novel, 'Minbak'.
They chat about the inspirations behind the story (including a dinner table convo where Ela's mum just casually mentioned that she had been a journalist during the 1985 uprising) and why it took an agent being very honest to get the best out of this book.
We also get a cheeky little listen to the audiobook (which Ela narrates herself) and a couple of cracking book recommendations too.
Here's a little more about 'Minbak':
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.