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Extract: Jaded by Ela Lee

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12 of the most anticipated debut books of 2024

Minbak

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. 
 
 
‘Had me utterly engrossed. An incredible story of love, conflict and heartbreak.’ Rosie Price 
 
‘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 
 
'Minbak aches with the unspeakable nature of loss. 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

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!

Lyrical and devastating, MINBAK is a flawless meditation on memory, love and misunderstanding. Destined to be a modern classic

With love and care, Minbak unearths a dark page of history that has long been in the shadows. Ela Lee has written a beautiful, tender story of displacement and loss which shows the resilience of the human spirit, and the family ties that transcend all wounds

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

It takes great skill to expose the dark and unsettling with a light and tender touch. Minbak is a story of family, displacement, and forgiveness that’s richly layered, deeply felt, and as lyrical as it is propulsive

Minbak aches with the unspeakable nature of loss. 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

Minbak is a stunning portrayal of love, duty, race, and transformation against the alternating backdrops of two nations in turmoil. Ela Lee writes with compassion and great wisdom about the dark depths of the human soul - and the possibility of redemption

Juhea Kim, internationally bestselling author of Beasts of a Little Land and City of Night Birds

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.

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. 
 
‘Had me utterly engrossed. An incredible story of love, conflict and heartbreak.’ Rosie Price 
 
‘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

Ela Lee

Ela Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction. I tore through JADED – it made me laugh, cry and really bloody furious

JADED is a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of race, identity, and the rippling effects of sexual assault. Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page.

A raw, compulsive and nuanced novel about identity, race and consent

This raw, dark novel explores racism, class and sexism and you'll want to savour every word on every page

Ela Lee is an electrifying new voice, and this is an ambitious gut-punch of a novel. Like I May Destroy You meets Industry, it’s a witty, nuanced and thought-provoking interrogation of attitudes towards race, power and consent

Bobby Palmer, author of ISAAC AND THE EGG

Jaded is so nuanced, assured, and utterly devastating it’s hard to believe it’s Ela Lee’s debut. Lee fearlessly takes on the impossible, infuriating double standards women are held to in our society, and undeniable feminine rage simmers under every sentence of her expertly crafted prose

Wonderfully multi-faceted and emotionally compelling

Jaded is a sharp, bold and compulsively readable story of power, money, sex and survival. Ela Lee writes with utter clarity and heartbreaking insight about the cost of survival in cut-throat corporate environments and about the gray space between complicity and compromise. Urgent and necessary, this is a book that will take up space in your heart and mind long after the last page

Cecilia Rabess, author of EVERYTHING’S FINE

Bold ... A tightly-wound, claustrophobic unravelling of one woman that is one of the year’s most thoughtful reads

Brutal but sadly realistic, JADED is a clarion call against the resounding silence of corporate law which has gone untouched and unmoved by #metoo. Quietly devastating

Ela Lee has crafted a novel that's compulsive, rousing and raw. JADED is a dizzying debut about power, race, consent, entitlement, and so much more

A gripping read - in parts harrowing and uncomfortable, but also brilliantly empowering. And underneath it all, a love letter to female friendship. Highly recommended!

A sensitive, nuanced and compelling exploration of trauma, race, identity and consent. Ela Lee is a writer to watch.

JADED is brilliant and funny and moving all at once. I loved how Ela used the assault to crack open all the faultlines in Jade’s life, with Kit and with her work and with her parents. Despite the heartbreak, such violence can also show us our own strength and beauty

Jaded is a bold, important novel about privilege and power. It doesn’t shy away from hard truths. A wonderful thing, when fiction has the courage to leave the reader with questions, thoughts, and feelings, instead of giving simplified answers

An extremely accomplished debut that covers a difficult topic, at times delicately, at times unflinchingly, and always accessible. We have either been this Jade or know someone like Jade, and the way Ela builds her narrative is expertly done

JADED is that rarest of things: a compelling page-turner that is also unafraid to challenge. With its nuanced and complex exploration of consent portrayed through the lens of gender, race and class, it is as painfully urgent as it is timeless

For fans of The List, Prima Facie, Queenie and I May Destroy You, discover the debut novel that readers describe as a timely, must-read novel. 
 
‘Jade isn't even my real name. Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name.' 
 
Jade has become everything she ever wanted to be. 
 
Successful lawyer. Dutiful daughter. Beloved girlfriend. Loyal friend. 
 
Until one night, something terrible happens after a work event, and she starts to wonder if she really wants to be the person she’s become. 
 
She’s learned to laugh when she’s felt like crying, opted to be invisible when she wanted to speak up and changed her identity to please people. But now Jade has to make a decision for herself. The question is, which is the right one? 
 
This searing novel explores the strength we find in female friendship, the hope that lights up the dark moments and recovery that’s far from linear, and will leave you asking yourself: what would you have done in Jade’s situation?

Ela Lee

Praise for Jaded

Ela Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction. I tore through JADED – it made me laugh, cry and really bloody furious

JADED is a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of race, identity, and the rippling effects of sexual assault. Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page.

A raw, compulsive and nuanced novel about identity, race and consent

Ela Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction. I tore through JADED – it made me laugh, cry and really bloody furious

JADED is a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of race, identity, and the rippling effects of sexual assault. Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page.

A raw, compulsive and nuanced novel about identity, race and consent

Ela Lee is a remarkable new voice in fiction. I tore through JADED – it made me laugh, cry and really bloody furious

JADED is a thoughtful, hard-hitting exploration of race, identity, and the rippling effects of sexual assault. Ela Lee writes with an urgency and clarity that will have you hooked until the last page.

A raw, compulsive and nuanced novel about identity, race and consent

Books by Ela Lee

Articles featuring Ela Lee

Extract: Jaded by Ela Lee

12 of the most anticipated debut books of 2024

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