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Yesteryear
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50 copies available
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A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.
My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.
Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.
A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.
My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.
Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.
A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 7, 2026
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About the author
Caro Claire Burke
1 book284 followersCaro Claire Burke received her Master's in Fine Arts from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is the co-host of Diabolical Lies, a politics and culture podcast. Yesteryear is her first novel.
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February 6, 2026
Honestly, this is one of the most mind bending reading experiences I have had in a long time. When I finished this book, my head was spinning. I felt stunned, unsettled, confused, deeply shaken, and yet ultimately impressed because what I thought I was signing up for was not at all what I actually received.
Based on the blurb, the premise initially reads like an intriguing time travel fantasy blended with women’s fiction. We meet Natalie Heller Mills, a glossy, picture perfect YouTuber and influencer documenting her idyllic farm life with her husband and five children, with a sixth on the way. One morning she wakes up in the same house, but it is no longer the renovated farmhouse she knows. Instead, she is suddenly transported to 1805, surrounded by dirt, hardship, firewood for heat, hand washed clothes, poverty, and a rougher, older version of her husband. There is no electricity, no comfort, no safety net, just brutal pioneer reality. At first this feels like a nightmare she desperately wants to wake up from, and I assumed the story would follow a straightforward magical or historical fantasy path. I could not have been more wrong.
Once the novel reaches its second half, the true nature of the story becomes chillingly clear. I do not want to spoil anything, but there is a moment so shocking that I literally stopped reading and stared at the page. The final twist left me reeling and reminded me strongly of the real life Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt case, including their multimillion dollar mansion and horrific revelations. I highly recommend reading about that case after finishing this book, because the parallels are haunting.
Yes, the book is long, but I was never bored. The central mystery revolves around why Natalie, a devout Christian, manic pixie style tradwife figure with eight million followers, becomes the target of angry online critics, Ivy League elites, and social media activists who label her anti feminist. Suddenly finding herself trapped in a Little House on the Prairie style past, she must figure out how to survive and whether she can return to her real life.Interwoven with this is Natalie’s backstory. We learn how she earned a scholarship to Harvard but struggled to fit into the elite academic world because of her sheltered upbringing and strict moral values instilled by her widowed mother. Her life motto is always be nice, even as rage and resentment quietly simmer beneath the surface. Then she meets Caleb, a man from a large conservative patriarchal family with secrets of their own.
After marriage, Natalie realizes Caleb is intellectually lazy, spoiled, and completely disconnected from real labor or responsibility. When she suggests starting a farm as his “project,” she thinks she is helping him find purpose. Instead, it becomes her own empire, complete with millions of followers, brand deals, hired nannies, and a 21 year old producer named Shannon documenting every moment of her supposedly perfect life.This book will absolutely spark political and cultural debate. It is sharp satire, but also a chilling reflection of real world extremism disguised as family values.
Natalie is deeply flawed and often unlikable, but she is never a cartoon villain. You may hate her choices, but the novel pushes you to understand how she became this way.What frustrated me most was that I disliked almost every character. Caleb is painfully ignorant. His father Doug is predatory and manipulative. His mother is emotionally broken. Even Natalie’s own family and producer Shannon, despite her good intentions, drove me crazy. That is why I deducted one star.
Still, the book is unforgettable.Natalie’s voice is fascinating. She is obsessed with being good, likable, obedient, and morally pure, yet those very traits trap her in misery. The novel brilliantly shows how everyone in this story believes they are right while being deeply wrong at the same time. They are all both victims and villains of their own choices.The final twist is wild, slightly far fetched, but devastatingly effective.
The emotional conclusion stayed with me long after I finished. I truly believe this will be one of the most talked about, provocative, and controversial books of the year, and I would not be surprised if it becomes a television series.Even if you find Natalie unbearable, you should still read this book. It is a sharp mirror of today’s social media culture, political polarization, religious extremism, family dysfunction, and most importantly, mental health. It is challenging, uncomfortable, brilliant, and unforgettable.
A very huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Knopf for providing me with this intellectually electrifying and deeply thought provoking digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
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Based on the blurb, the premise initially reads like an intriguing time travel fantasy blended with women’s fiction. We meet Natalie Heller Mills, a glossy, picture perfect YouTuber and influencer documenting her idyllic farm life with her husband and five children, with a sixth on the way. One morning she wakes up in the same house, but it is no longer the renovated farmhouse she knows. Instead, she is suddenly transported to 1805, surrounded by dirt, hardship, firewood for heat, hand washed clothes, poverty, and a rougher, older version of her husband. There is no electricity, no comfort, no safety net, just brutal pioneer reality. At first this feels like a nightmare she desperately wants to wake up from, and I assumed the story would follow a straightforward magical or historical fantasy path. I could not have been more wrong.
Once the novel reaches its second half, the true nature of the story becomes chillingly clear. I do not want to spoil anything, but there is a moment so shocking that I literally stopped reading and stared at the page. The final twist left me reeling and reminded me strongly of the real life Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt case, including their multimillion dollar mansion and horrific revelations. I highly recommend reading about that case after finishing this book, because the parallels are haunting.
Yes, the book is long, but I was never bored. The central mystery revolves around why Natalie, a devout Christian, manic pixie style tradwife figure with eight million followers, becomes the target of angry online critics, Ivy League elites, and social media activists who label her anti feminist. Suddenly finding herself trapped in a Little House on the Prairie style past, she must figure out how to survive and whether she can return to her real life.Interwoven with this is Natalie’s backstory. We learn how she earned a scholarship to Harvard but struggled to fit into the elite academic world because of her sheltered upbringing and strict moral values instilled by her widowed mother. Her life motto is always be nice, even as rage and resentment quietly simmer beneath the surface. Then she meets Caleb, a man from a large conservative patriarchal family with secrets of their own.
After marriage, Natalie realizes Caleb is intellectually lazy, spoiled, and completely disconnected from real labor or responsibility. When she suggests starting a farm as his “project,” she thinks she is helping him find purpose. Instead, it becomes her own empire, complete with millions of followers, brand deals, hired nannies, and a 21 year old producer named Shannon documenting every moment of her supposedly perfect life.This book will absolutely spark political and cultural debate. It is sharp satire, but also a chilling reflection of real world extremism disguised as family values.
Natalie is deeply flawed and often unlikable, but she is never a cartoon villain. You may hate her choices, but the novel pushes you to understand how she became this way.What frustrated me most was that I disliked almost every character. Caleb is painfully ignorant. His father Doug is predatory and manipulative. His mother is emotionally broken. Even Natalie’s own family and producer Shannon, despite her good intentions, drove me crazy. That is why I deducted one star.
Still, the book is unforgettable.Natalie’s voice is fascinating. She is obsessed with being good, likable, obedient, and morally pure, yet those very traits trap her in misery. The novel brilliantly shows how everyone in this story believes they are right while being deeply wrong at the same time. They are all both victims and villains of their own choices.The final twist is wild, slightly far fetched, but devastatingly effective.
The emotional conclusion stayed with me long after I finished. I truly believe this will be one of the most talked about, provocative, and controversial books of the year, and I would not be surprised if it becomes a television series.Even if you find Natalie unbearable, you should still read this book. It is a sharp mirror of today’s social media culture, political polarization, religious extremism, family dysfunction, and most importantly, mental health. It is challenging, uncomfortable, brilliant, and unforgettable.
A very huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Knopf for providing me with this intellectually electrifying and deeply thought provoking digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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January 17, 2026the more i think about this book, the more disappointed i am by it.
i think that upon its release, yesteryear is going to be everywhere — it's going to be the white woman book club pick of choice, i'm sure. it'll probably make for a great movie (although, i'm not sure if i can picture anne hathaway as natalie. not the point though. also, anne hathaway, please call me.) it's also, to me, half-baked, and hollow. and probably ballerina farm lawsuit fodder.
yesteryear is yet another case of "i loved the concept, and i think the execution really fell flat for me." as my dear friend em said in her review, "amongst my crowd however of young, lefty progressive, hater-ish, sometimes nonwhite women reared on the internet, bearing witness to changing social trends and terrible atrocities, i can sense this book raising questions to the end of “who’s this for. what was the point”." i am not the target audience for this book, despite being an early viewer of ballerina farm's content, and countless conversations with my friends about the rise of tradwifeism in today's political climate. and that bums me out a little bit, because yesteryear was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026.
i think burke tries to touch on some of the things that are often talked about in conjunction with conversations about tradwife influencers (whiteness, classism, privilege, religious indoctrination, mental health, child abuse) but all of it feels so very half-baked. i assume this is intentional (whether it's a matter of not pulling focus from the story, because burke doesn't feel equipped to do so, or something else), but frustrating for me, as a reader, to see topics and themes (some of which i care very much about) discussed in a way that feels almost lackadaisical.
i feel like you cannot write a book that is essentially, satirical culture commentary, and then do it in a way that feels half-assed and not well researched. it's a disservice to your story, and to your audience. there's also a conversation here to be had about taking such heavy inspiration from influencers (who yes, choose to put their lives out there on social media) and using it for culture commentary — and the invasiveness of that. just because someone chooses to share their life on social media does not mean they consent to ... that. and i'm not saying we can't critique tradwife influencers (obviously, i think cultural criticism is a good and healthy thing and i think we should engage with all things critically), but the extent that burke seems to draw inspiration from hannah ballerinafarm does make me a little ... weary? again, it almost feels lazy.
in my original review, i wrote that i like my books with more character growth and development than yesteryear contains, and i still stand by that. at the end of yesteryear, it feels like natalie has not progressed since we first met her. which. well, there's a reason for that. little character development + half baked social commentary = a frustrated and unfulfilled reader (me). and i have no problem with reading a book about a main character that i don't agree with, or that i deeply dislike — but i do need something. it almost felt like the opposite of "and ben platt, who played dear, he gave everything" — yesteryear simply gave me ... nothing (but disappointment and frustration).
i think that yesteryear would've been stronger if the last part (or even an epilogue?) was told in someone else's pov — i found myself wanting to know more about natalie's children (particularly, clementine), and what life looked like for them. at the very least, i would have appreciated yesteryear more if some of the other characters (some of who are just as complicit, or if not, worse) were also dealt a similar fate. or if we at least knew what happened to them. and i think if yesteryear was even like, 50 pages longer (and if we had more time to fully flesh out natalie's upbringing/relationship with her faith/relationship with her family/anything else about natalie) it would've felt like a stronger story. natalie's sister was clearly meant to be a foil, but we barely see her and it just ... once again, feels flat.
yesteryear was a hollow book riddled with logical fallacies, and the more i think about it, the more disappointed i am. but once again, i do not think i was the target audience for this book (despite my initial excitement for it). i am also unsure what points burke was trying to make with yesteryear. was i supposed to leave with an increased disdain for tradwife influencers? am i supposed to feel bad for their children? i already do, that's nothing new. am i supposed to simply be entertained? i guess it did capture my attention for the entirety of my flight, but it definitely left me feeling more frustrated than when i started reading it. i'll probably still be seated for the movie. maybe it will translate better as a film! who knows!
i think that upon its release, yesteryear is going to be everywhere — it's going to be the white woman book club pick of choice, i'm sure. it'll probably make for a great movie (although, i'm not sure if i can picture anne hathaway as natalie. not the point though. also, anne hathaway, please call me.) it's also, to me, half-baked, and hollow. and probably ballerina farm lawsuit fodder.
yesteryear is yet another case of "i loved the concept, and i think the execution really fell flat for me." as my dear friend em said in her review, "amongst my crowd however of young, lefty progressive, hater-ish, sometimes nonwhite women reared on the internet, bearing witness to changing social trends and terrible atrocities, i can sense this book raising questions to the end of “who’s this for. what was the point”." i am not the target audience for this book, despite being an early viewer of ballerina farm's content, and countless conversations with my friends about the rise of tradwifeism in today's political climate. and that bums me out a little bit, because yesteryear was one of my most anticipated reads of 2026.
i think burke tries to touch on some of the things that are often talked about in conjunction with conversations about tradwife influencers (whiteness, classism, privilege, religious indoctrination, mental health, child abuse) but all of it feels so very half-baked. i assume this is intentional (whether it's a matter of not pulling focus from the story, because burke doesn't feel equipped to do so, or something else), but frustrating for me, as a reader, to see topics and themes (some of which i care very much about) discussed in a way that feels almost lackadaisical.
i feel like you cannot write a book that is essentially, satirical culture commentary, and then do it in a way that feels half-assed and not well researched. it's a disservice to your story, and to your audience. there's also a conversation here to be had about taking such heavy inspiration from influencers (who yes, choose to put their lives out there on social media) and using it for culture commentary — and the invasiveness of that. just because someone chooses to share their life on social media does not mean they consent to ... that. and i'm not saying we can't critique tradwife influencers (obviously, i think cultural criticism is a good and healthy thing and i think we should engage with all things critically), but the extent that burke seems to draw inspiration from hannah ballerinafarm does make me a little ... weary? again, it almost feels lazy.
in my original review, i wrote that i like my books with more character growth and development than yesteryear contains, and i still stand by that. at the end of yesteryear, it feels like natalie has not progressed since we first met her. which. well, there's a reason for that. little character development + half baked social commentary = a frustrated and unfulfilled reader (me). and i have no problem with reading a book about a main character that i don't agree with, or that i deeply dislike — but i do need something. it almost felt like the opposite of "and ben platt, who played dear, he gave everything" — yesteryear simply gave me ... nothing (but disappointment and frustration).
i think that yesteryear would've been stronger if the last part (or even an epilogue?) was told in someone else's pov — i found myself wanting to know more about natalie's children (particularly, clementine), and what life looked like for them. at the very least, i would have appreciated yesteryear more if some of the other characters (some of who are just as complicit, or if not, worse) were also dealt a similar fate. or if we at least knew what happened to them. and i think if yesteryear was even like, 50 pages longer (and if we had more time to fully flesh out natalie's upbringing/relationship with her faith/relationship with her family/anything else about natalie) it would've felt like a stronger story. natalie's sister was clearly meant to be a foil, but we barely see her and it just ... once again, feels flat.
yesteryear was a hollow book riddled with logical fallacies, and the more i think about it, the more disappointed i am. but once again, i do not think i was the target audience for this book (despite my initial excitement for it). i am also unsure what points burke was trying to make with yesteryear. was i supposed to leave with an increased disdain for tradwife influencers? am i supposed to feel bad for their children? i already do, that's nothing new. am i supposed to simply be entertained? i guess it did capture my attention for the entirety of my flight, but it definitely left me feeling more frustrated than when i started reading it. i'll probably still be seated for the movie. maybe it will translate better as a film! who knows!
January 26, 2026
Wow, I absolutely loved this book. It puts a new spin on the tradwife/social media influencer trope. This book had me guessing from the very beginning….. I had absolutely no idea where this book was heading. But I loved where it went.
Natalie is a super popular social media influencer showing off her traditional pioneer lifestyle. Natalie , her husband, Caleb and her six children all live on a massive ranch and live farm to table. To put it simply Natalie is living her best life as a traditional Christian pioneer. At least that is what she wants all of her followers to believe. Behind the scenes everything is choreographed perfectly, and there is additional help in the form of nannies and farm hands and producers to keep things moving smoothly. One morning, Natalie wakes up and something feels off. The house she is in is not her house. Her husband is not her husband and her kids are not her kids. And it appears she has woken up in the 1800s. Natalie is completely discombobulated and confused as am I. We both want to know what the heck happened.
We learned so much about Natalie from the time she goes to college all the way through to waking up in the 1800s. I enjoyed Natalie’s inner monologue at times. She made me snicker , other times she made me absolutely despise her and finally there were times that she was relatable . Don’t get me wrong, she’s still highly unlikable, but she felt real. All the different elements from the social influencing, tradwife and pioneer lifestyle were woven together in a nice arc. There was just something about this one that piqued my interest and I’m so glad I picked it up. This is definitely one that I can see being talked about for sure.
Be sure to add this one to your TBR!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
Natalie is a super popular social media influencer showing off her traditional pioneer lifestyle. Natalie , her husband, Caleb and her six children all live on a massive ranch and live farm to table. To put it simply Natalie is living her best life as a traditional Christian pioneer. At least that is what she wants all of her followers to believe. Behind the scenes everything is choreographed perfectly, and there is additional help in the form of nannies and farm hands and producers to keep things moving smoothly. One morning, Natalie wakes up and something feels off. The house she is in is not her house. Her husband is not her husband and her kids are not her kids. And it appears she has woken up in the 1800s. Natalie is completely discombobulated and confused as am I. We both want to know what the heck happened.
We learned so much about Natalie from the time she goes to college all the way through to waking up in the 1800s. I enjoyed Natalie’s inner monologue at times. She made me snicker , other times she made me absolutely despise her and finally there were times that she was relatable . Don’t get me wrong, she’s still highly unlikable, but she felt real. All the different elements from the social influencing, tradwife and pioneer lifestyle were woven together in a nice arc. There was just something about this one that piqued my interest and I’m so glad I picked it up. This is definitely one that I can see being talked about for sure.
Be sure to add this one to your TBR!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
January 29, 2026
4+
Natalie Heller Mills is a tradwife with 8 million followers on Instagram, living the picture of the traditional American mother and wife, she is beautiful and hardworking, with six children… living the farm life in Idaho.. but she is not what she seems to be online.
One day she wakes up in 1805, she has children, but they aren’t hers.. all of the modern conveniences are gone… all is rustic. How did she get here? There seems to be nowhere out.
The story is told in flashbacks and present day.
Gripping story, a real page turner.
I predict this book will be everywhere, soon.
Already optioned to be a movie produced and starred in by Ann Hathaway.
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
Natalie Heller Mills is a tradwife with 8 million followers on Instagram, living the picture of the traditional American mother and wife, she is beautiful and hardworking, with six children… living the farm life in Idaho.. but she is not what she seems to be online.
One day she wakes up in 1805, she has children, but they aren’t hers.. all of the modern conveniences are gone… all is rustic. How did she get here? There seems to be nowhere out.
The story is told in flashbacks and present day.
Gripping story, a real page turner.
I predict this book will be everywhere, soon.
Already optioned to be a movie produced and starred in by Ann Hathaway.
Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
November 25, 2025
Yesteryear is a feat! A book with a narrator that is impossible to look away from.
To her millions of followers, Natalie is living a perfect life as a loving wife and doting mother, living with her family on a ranch, upholding and then in turn selling her pioneer lifestyle. Most would call her a tradwife—someone who embraces traditional/conservative gender roles.
One day, with no warning at all, she finds herself transported back in time to the harsh reality of 1805, where she must actually perform this role, in order to survive. She has no idea how she got to this version of her life, in which she is with her husband and children, but they are strangers to her. Neither does she know how to escape and return to the life she had so carefully chosen for herself.
What is especially interesting about Natalie is that, while on the surface, she works very hard to be perceived one way, nothing is hidden from the reader. Through her internal monologue, we see her for who she really is. And she is…awful. Conniving, miserable, relentless. Brilliant, too. She is, as promised, perfect at curating and living her life.
As we continue to live alongside social media, the ramifications of creating an “online self” are beginning to surface. Yes, we can utilize this world to obtain a life that we want for ourselves, but at what cost? It is never only ourselves who pay the price.
Yesteryear is out in April— it is a must-read, one of the best books I’ll read in 2026, already (well…you know what I mean!)
Thank you to the publisher for the early review copy, in exchange for an honest review!
To her millions of followers, Natalie is living a perfect life as a loving wife and doting mother, living with her family on a ranch, upholding and then in turn selling her pioneer lifestyle. Most would call her a tradwife—someone who embraces traditional/conservative gender roles.
One day, with no warning at all, she finds herself transported back in time to the harsh reality of 1805, where she must actually perform this role, in order to survive. She has no idea how she got to this version of her life, in which she is with her husband and children, but they are strangers to her. Neither does she know how to escape and return to the life she had so carefully chosen for herself.
What is especially interesting about Natalie is that, while on the surface, she works very hard to be perceived one way, nothing is hidden from the reader. Through her internal monologue, we see her for who she really is. And she is…awful. Conniving, miserable, relentless. Brilliant, too. She is, as promised, perfect at curating and living her life.
As we continue to live alongside social media, the ramifications of creating an “online self” are beginning to surface. Yes, we can utilize this world to obtain a life that we want for ourselves, but at what cost? It is never only ourselves who pay the price.
Yesteryear is out in April— it is a must-read, one of the best books I’ll read in 2026, already (well…you know what I mean!)
Thank you to the publisher for the early review copy, in exchange for an honest review!
January 26, 2026
5 stars! ⭐️ Review to come. 🫶
January 15, 2026
(free review copy) What in the ACTUAL tradwife MAGA MAHA conservative Christian manosphere clusterf*ck social media world do we live in that makes this bonkers book seem so REAL?
The marketing copy I received for this book described it perfectly when it mentioned something about how this is a book that needs to be published right now. This is the time for this book. And that makes it even more disturbing. I was absolutely riveted with the story, thoroughly disturbed, but couldn’t look away.
Source: free digital review copy from publisher
The marketing copy I received for this book described it perfectly when it mentioned something about how this is a book that needs to be published right now. This is the time for this book. And that makes it even more disturbing. I was absolutely riveted with the story, thoroughly disturbed, but couldn’t look away.
Source: free digital review copy from publisher
January 14, 2026
this was so fun! such great commentary on the tradwife movement / religious fundamentalism and just an entertaining read. full review soon.
thank you 4th estate for the advanced copy <3
thank you 4th estate for the advanced copy <3
December 8, 2025
Over the next few years we will start seeing a surge in the market of “trad wife” and “influencer mommy” stereotypes. This will not only be children who are regaining their autonomy through their own stories and memoirs but fictionalized cases as well. Yesteryear is one of the first and it is going to be incredibly difficult to beat.
We have our incredibly unlikeable trad mommy influencer Natalie and her just desserts spread for the world and readers to see. It is incredibly difficult writing a villainous protagonist while keeping readers engaged but Burke did this balancing act with ease. I felt invested while also on the edge of my seat to the train wreck that I knew was inevitable, and trust me, she did not disappoint.
I could write a spoiler filled review but I truly believe this is a book you should go into with as little synopsis as possible and just enjoy the outcome because it was masterful. So I’ll leave you guys with this cookie, this trad wife gets everything coming to her and more and the ending is spectacular. After all, it is feminism that allows you to be a trad wife while also exploiting your children online for money and pocketing that cash in your own bank account.
We have our incredibly unlikeable trad mommy influencer Natalie and her just desserts spread for the world and readers to see. It is incredibly difficult writing a villainous protagonist while keeping readers engaged but Burke did this balancing act with ease. I felt invested while also on the edge of my seat to the train wreck that I knew was inevitable, and trust me, she did not disappoint.
I could write a spoiler filled review but I truly believe this is a book you should go into with as little synopsis as possible and just enjoy the outcome because it was masterful. So I’ll leave you guys with this cookie, this trad wife gets everything coming to her and more and the ending is spectacular. After all, it is feminism that allows you to be a trad wife while also exploiting your children online for money and pocketing that cash in your own bank account.
December 8, 2025
Everyone’s gonna read this book.
I didn’t say everyone’s gonna love this book, I said everyone’s gonna read it. Because it’s explosive, it’s surprising, it might even be triggering for some of you. And EVERYONE is going to be talking about it.
What about me? I loved it. I was absolutely INVESTED in this highly original story. If you like an unlikable, unreliable narrator you will want to add this to your TBR immediately.
It’s about a tradwife influencer, her husband Caleb is from an influential, rich, political republican family. Natalie comes from a humble single mother and grows up evangelical, but still ends up at Harvard. Her ambition and fierce controlling personality is a recipe for becoming a success. She is manipulative and driven and it’s so easy to be drawn into her mind.
The story is set up when we are aware of her success and farm life, although she employs a producer and two nannies. The farm is designed to look like an authentic old farm but if you peel back the curtain you will see “made in China” stickers and top of the line appliances. Natalie is selling a lifestyle.
One day she wakes up and her house is like her house but different- her husband and kids are similar to her kids but just a bit different. And the year is 1805. Now she has to try to live the lifestyle without the modern conveniences and the performance.
The ending was creative and hit me between the eyes like a two by four. Let’s just say it was not what I was expecting and I think a lot of people are gonna be mad about the ending. And other people are going to love it as much as I did.
Every year I call a title “the book everyone is going to read”- last year I called it Broken Country and the year before The Measure. In 2026 that book is Yesteryear.
Can’t wait for the movie. Oooh I loved to hate Natalie!
Thanks to NetGalley and AA Knopf for the ARC. Book to be published April 6, 2026.
I didn’t say everyone’s gonna love this book, I said everyone’s gonna read it. Because it’s explosive, it’s surprising, it might even be triggering for some of you. And EVERYONE is going to be talking about it.
What about me? I loved it. I was absolutely INVESTED in this highly original story. If you like an unlikable, unreliable narrator you will want to add this to your TBR immediately.
It’s about a tradwife influencer, her husband Caleb is from an influential, rich, political republican family. Natalie comes from a humble single mother and grows up evangelical, but still ends up at Harvard. Her ambition and fierce controlling personality is a recipe for becoming a success. She is manipulative and driven and it’s so easy to be drawn into her mind.
The story is set up when we are aware of her success and farm life, although she employs a producer and two nannies. The farm is designed to look like an authentic old farm but if you peel back the curtain you will see “made in China” stickers and top of the line appliances. Natalie is selling a lifestyle.
One day she wakes up and her house is like her house but different- her husband and kids are similar to her kids but just a bit different. And the year is 1805. Now she has to try to live the lifestyle without the modern conveniences and the performance.
The ending was creative and hit me between the eyes like a two by four. Let’s just say it was not what I was expecting and I think a lot of people are gonna be mad about the ending. And other people are going to love it as much as I did.
Every year I call a title “the book everyone is going to read”- last year I called it Broken Country and the year before The Measure. In 2026 that book is Yesteryear.
Can’t wait for the movie. Oooh I loved to hate Natalie!
Thanks to NetGalley and AA Knopf for the ARC. Book to be published April 6, 2026.
October 13, 2025
What a fascinating and thought provoking look at the made up world of a social media influencer trying to profit from her seemingly perfect life on a perfect farm with the perfect husband and children. A searing commentary on the "trad wife esthetic" that so many people are enamored with. A five star read for this fantastic debut author.
October 28, 2025
This book will be heavily discussed when it releases in 2026, and rightfully so.
Whew. What a whirlwind. And that ending!!!
What a whirlwind Yesteryear is. I've never read anything quite like it.
It’s Caro Claire’s debut novel, and Anne Hathaway is already set to star in the upcoming Amazon adaptation.
I went in expecting a heavy dose of magical realism (it's not at all), a big what if: what if a white Christian nationalist whose main goals in life are to get married, make babies, and live off the land (and who also happens to be a major social media influencer) suddenly wakes up in 1806?
But what happens next isn’t quite what you’d expect.
Before reading this, I had no idea who Ballerina Farmer was. She’s an influencer with 10 million Instagram followers who documents her daily farm life, from milking cows to performing pirouettes on acres of farmland. It’s clear that Burke drew inspiration from her when writing Yesteryear.
“The goal of an influencer is not to be lovable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting.”
The main character, Natalie, has more kids than she can handle, is pregnant with another, and is married into a political family that claims to uphold “traditional American values.” You get the idea.
“This is a wholesome, traditional Aryan wife.”
I’ve already seen some people complain that the author is “too liberal,” but they’re not complaining about the fact that people still talk like this today.
I’ve never read anything quite like this. It’s a sharp reflection of what’s happening in America right now, a deep dive into morality, identity, and who gets to decide whose values are “better.” (Spoiler: definitely not the current administration.)
“Liars. Every Christian woman I ever met had been a big fat lying bastard. Lord have mercy on their big fat lying bastard souls.”
“Good Christian women were great at worrying. They were not, however, good at confrontation. But good Christian men? Born for it.”
Now let’s talk about the ending. No spoilers, but trust me, some readers will love it, some will hate it, and others (like me) will wonder if it even makes sense. Either way, get ready, this book is going to be the topic of conversation when it hits shelves on April 7, 2026.
Whew. What a whirlwind. And that ending!!!
What a whirlwind Yesteryear is. I've never read anything quite like it.
It’s Caro Claire’s debut novel, and Anne Hathaway is already set to star in the upcoming Amazon adaptation.
I went in expecting a heavy dose of magical realism (it's not at all), a big what if: what if a white Christian nationalist whose main goals in life are to get married, make babies, and live off the land (and who also happens to be a major social media influencer) suddenly wakes up in 1806?
But what happens next isn’t quite what you’d expect.
Before reading this, I had no idea who Ballerina Farmer was. She’s an influencer with 10 million Instagram followers who documents her daily farm life, from milking cows to performing pirouettes on acres of farmland. It’s clear that Burke drew inspiration from her when writing Yesteryear.
“The goal of an influencer is not to be lovable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting.”
The main character, Natalie, has more kids than she can handle, is pregnant with another, and is married into a political family that claims to uphold “traditional American values.” You get the idea.
“This is a wholesome, traditional Aryan wife.”
I’ve already seen some people complain that the author is “too liberal,” but they’re not complaining about the fact that people still talk like this today.
I’ve never read anything quite like this. It’s a sharp reflection of what’s happening in America right now, a deep dive into morality, identity, and who gets to decide whose values are “better.” (Spoiler: definitely not the current administration.)
“Liars. Every Christian woman I ever met had been a big fat lying bastard. Lord have mercy on their big fat lying bastard souls.”
“Good Christian women were great at worrying. They were not, however, good at confrontation. But good Christian men? Born for it.”
Now let’s talk about the ending. No spoilers, but trust me, some readers will love it, some will hate it, and others (like me) will wonder if it even makes sense. Either way, get ready, this book is going to be the topic of conversation when it hits shelves on April 7, 2026.
Want to read
December 10, 2025One of my anticipated reads of 2026!
Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Publisher and the author, Caro Claire Burke for sending me this ARC.
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Publisher and the author, Caro Claire Burke for sending me this ARC.
Publication date: April 7, 2026
Read
November 22, 2025Everyone is going to be talking about this when it drops
December 2, 2025
i’m gagged this was so good
January 24, 2026
This book has NO business being as good as it is! What nerve! The gall! First of all, it contains such timely, trendy, and relevant subject matter — the tradwife movement, social media and influencing, streaming “reality,” family vlogging, being Extremely Online, internet subcultures, conspiracy theories, trolling and cyberabuse, political and cultural divides centered around social and identity issues, etc. — that it did not even NEED to be good to draw an intrigued audience. Even doubters would likely have been curious about it! Second, this book has accordingly been super-hyped in advance of release: however do you live up to such hype?! Third, there is such a GLUT of fashionable books about social media and influencing antics these days: how does a new entry into that field compete and differentiate itself? And finally: WHAT do you mean this is a debut novel; how can that be?
This book came on scene with a lot of factors automatically in its favor and many factors that could have contributed to its undoing, but it somehow managed to balance everything out and clear all hurdles. I found this book excellent throughout and incredibly entertaining. There was just enough tension, realism, and humor, all in good measure, so that returning to the book always seemed appealing and it pulled and kept me in once I got there. I never not wanted to be reading it; I was reluctant to set it aside and eager to pick it back up. It felt different and fresh and it did not disappoint.
While it critically references or satirizes current social trends and problematic phenomena, I don’t think this is necessarily a super deep Issues Book, capitalized. But it’s still very smart, witty, fun, and keeps your brain stimulated as you try to figure out the puzzle of what in the world is happening.
The author is a fantastic, imaginative, stylish, and energetic writer, and she brings the story to life with a lot of engaging characters, especially the main character and first-person narrator, Natalie. Call her an unlikable female protagonist or whatever your preferred term is — she’s certainly unreliable and very often nasty, an awful calculating villain at worst and a troubled victimized antihero at best — but her questionable character and distorted perspective sure make for compelling reading regardless! She presents a fine example of something like “the character you love to hate.” She is giving some major Walter White energy here. And perhaps this indicates something wrong with me, but I did not find Natalie 100% unsympathetic, despite how truly horrible she can be.
Another feat this book accomplishes is managing to remain equally interesting while switching back and forth between “past” and “present” chapters. I was into both narrative threads and happy to read either as I encountered them. I think this is fairly rare: often there is one thread you end up liking more and another you kind of tolerate just to get back to the other one. Of course, Nasty Natalie is the uniting and diverting factor here between both!
I have read some minor critiques of the book’s ending. I had a different impression. I just didn’t think it was all that messy. Sure, trying out a new stunt might affect the initial dismount. The Wright Brothers landed their first aircraft on sled-like skid runners, not wheels. I wasn’t there, but my impression is that it probably looked a little bit different, but still worked. I think the author lands this one just fine, and she also effectively weaves back together the two Now and Then narrative threads. And she’s just a darn fine writer — again, like how can this be her first book?
I don’t want to give any more specific comps, even though there are some I’m bursting to mention, because I don’t want to give anything away. This book is a winner: people are talking about it now a few months prior to publication, and I predict they will still be talking about it at the end of this year. I hear a rumor there is a film version already in the works (appropriately featuring an actress once slapped with an “unlikable” label herself). And, like a prosperity gospel-manifesting tradwife, this book Deserves It All.
My gratitude to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Random House/Knopf for providing an ARC to review Yesteryear, due out on April 7, 2026!
This book came on scene with a lot of factors automatically in its favor and many factors that could have contributed to its undoing, but it somehow managed to balance everything out and clear all hurdles. I found this book excellent throughout and incredibly entertaining. There was just enough tension, realism, and humor, all in good measure, so that returning to the book always seemed appealing and it pulled and kept me in once I got there. I never not wanted to be reading it; I was reluctant to set it aside and eager to pick it back up. It felt different and fresh and it did not disappoint.
While it critically references or satirizes current social trends and problematic phenomena, I don’t think this is necessarily a super deep Issues Book, capitalized. But it’s still very smart, witty, fun, and keeps your brain stimulated as you try to figure out the puzzle of what in the world is happening.
The author is a fantastic, imaginative, stylish, and energetic writer, and she brings the story to life with a lot of engaging characters, especially the main character and first-person narrator, Natalie. Call her an unlikable female protagonist or whatever your preferred term is — she’s certainly unreliable and very often nasty, an awful calculating villain at worst and a troubled victimized antihero at best — but her questionable character and distorted perspective sure make for compelling reading regardless! She presents a fine example of something like “the character you love to hate.” She is giving some major Walter White energy here. And perhaps this indicates something wrong with me, but I did not find Natalie 100% unsympathetic, despite how truly horrible she can be.
Another feat this book accomplishes is managing to remain equally interesting while switching back and forth between “past” and “present” chapters. I was into both narrative threads and happy to read either as I encountered them. I think this is fairly rare: often there is one thread you end up liking more and another you kind of tolerate just to get back to the other one. Of course, Nasty Natalie is the uniting and diverting factor here between both!
I have read some minor critiques of the book’s ending. I had a different impression. I just didn’t think it was all that messy. Sure, trying out a new stunt might affect the initial dismount. The Wright Brothers landed their first aircraft on sled-like skid runners, not wheels. I wasn’t there, but my impression is that it probably looked a little bit different, but still worked. I think the author lands this one just fine, and she also effectively weaves back together the two Now and Then narrative threads. And she’s just a darn fine writer — again, like how can this be her first book?
I don’t want to give any more specific comps, even though there are some I’m bursting to mention, because I don’t want to give anything away. This book is a winner: people are talking about it now a few months prior to publication, and I predict they will still be talking about it at the end of this year. I hear a rumor there is a film version already in the works (appropriately featuring an actress once slapped with an “unlikable” label herself). And, like a prosperity gospel-manifesting tradwife, this book Deserves It All.
My gratitude to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Random House/Knopf for providing an ARC to review Yesteryear, due out on April 7, 2026!
Read
February 3, 2026never before have i been an early reader for what probably is the cleanest candidate for a runaway hit debut novel. celeb book clubs? seated. nyt bestseller list? practically guaranteed.
so for the second time in a row somehow, my thoughts on a novel are going to be lengthier than usual. i’m surprised too. consider this part review part cultural commentary i guess. or don’t. im the most chill and normal woman in the lobotomy waiting room
i’m not going to pretend i didn’t enjoy this book and absolutely tear through the back half in essentially one sitting. i think caro claire burke has a really precise handle on this lead character’s internal monologue and it manifests in very funny and true-to-feeling (if not true-to-life) ways. while heightened, i’m sure there are people in america right now who believe in these supposed values and aesthetics theories in a more or less diluted form. that’s the satire, yes. let us all laugh at what we know together. perhaps a catharsis will be reached.
so. this will probably be a big book next year when it comes out, esp among the middle-ish aged, liberal, (overwhelmingly female) book club demographic; the ones whose previous selections are comprised of kristen hannah, michelle obama’s memoir and maybe demon copperhead. they’ll eat it up. they’ll have a ton of fun (as i did, truly).
amongst my crowd however of young, lefty progressive, hater-ish, sometimes nonwhite women reared on the internet, bearing witness to changing social trends and terrible atrocities, i can sense this book raising questions to the end of “who’s this for. what was the point”.
because indeed the book pulls some punches. in what i imagine must be a deliberate choice, it purposefully doesn’t interface with race in any meaningful way. the part time latin ranch workers exist on the periphery of the lead’s life, which i must emphasize does feel true to character and the conceptions we have of these trad internet personalities. tradwife discourse has structural hooks in white supremacy of course while somewhat paradoxically being led by nara smith. the book i think purposefully stays away from addressing that cognitive dissonance. it wouldn’t be surprising to me if burke didn’t know how to unpack that, how relatively repulsive she wanted her lead to be.
natalie, Thee tradwife, marries into right wing political dynasty when she’s nineteen. when she finds success in later years, she agrees to be used as a prop in the patriarch’s umpteenth demagogic presidential campaign. her typical college growing pains are exacerbated by her deep rooted rigidity and imo her rejection of other women. her relationship with her daughters is the most interesting part of the book. she’s not likable. compels me though.
i guess in some way i’m still left examining the following:
what does caro claire burke want a reader to take from the book. and “The Reader” is not a homogenous set of opinions. your book clubs will be entertained. your me’s will think. but what about the people who genuinely engage with trad content on its presented terms? the book comes down definitively on it being a net-negative, but i’m not sure it would actually persuade anyone to change their opinion of anything. and forget the actual trad content creators. i cannot imagine them touching this book with a ten foot pole. i think for them to acknowledge it would be akin to breaking kayfabe.
i think i also would have liked to spend more time in the world of the book’s ending. if you’ve read it, you know what i’m referring to. i almost think that tara westover’s educated is a good pairing with this.
thank you to netgalley for the advance copy.
so for the second time in a row somehow, my thoughts on a novel are going to be lengthier than usual. i’m surprised too. consider this part review part cultural commentary i guess. or don’t. im the most chill and normal woman in the lobotomy waiting room
i’m not going to pretend i didn’t enjoy this book and absolutely tear through the back half in essentially one sitting. i think caro claire burke has a really precise handle on this lead character’s internal monologue and it manifests in very funny and true-to-feeling (if not true-to-life) ways. while heightened, i’m sure there are people in america right now who believe in these supposed values and aesthetics theories in a more or less diluted form. that’s the satire, yes. let us all laugh at what we know together. perhaps a catharsis will be reached.
so. this will probably be a big book next year when it comes out, esp among the middle-ish aged, liberal, (overwhelmingly female) book club demographic; the ones whose previous selections are comprised of kristen hannah, michelle obama’s memoir and maybe demon copperhead. they’ll eat it up. they’ll have a ton of fun (as i did, truly).
amongst my crowd however of young, lefty progressive, hater-ish, sometimes nonwhite women reared on the internet, bearing witness to changing social trends and terrible atrocities, i can sense this book raising questions to the end of “who’s this for. what was the point”.
because indeed the book pulls some punches. in what i imagine must be a deliberate choice, it purposefully doesn’t interface with race in any meaningful way. the part time latin ranch workers exist on the periphery of the lead’s life, which i must emphasize does feel true to character and the conceptions we have of these trad internet personalities. tradwife discourse has structural hooks in white supremacy of course while somewhat paradoxically being led by nara smith. the book i think purposefully stays away from addressing that cognitive dissonance. it wouldn’t be surprising to me if burke didn’t know how to unpack that, how relatively repulsive she wanted her lead to be.
natalie, Thee tradwife, marries into right wing political dynasty when she’s nineteen. when she finds success in later years, she agrees to be used as a prop in the patriarch’s umpteenth demagogic presidential campaign. her typical college growing pains are exacerbated by her deep rooted rigidity and imo her rejection of other women. her relationship with her daughters is the most interesting part of the book. she’s not likable. compels me though.
i guess in some way i’m still left examining the following:
what does caro claire burke want a reader to take from the book. and “The Reader” is not a homogenous set of opinions. your book clubs will be entertained. your me’s will think. but what about the people who genuinely engage with trad content on its presented terms? the book comes down definitively on it being a net-negative, but i’m not sure it would actually persuade anyone to change their opinion of anything. and forget the actual trad content creators. i cannot imagine them touching this book with a ten foot pole. i think for them to acknowledge it would be akin to breaking kayfabe.
i think i also would have liked to spend more time in the world of the book’s ending. if you’ve read it, you know what i’m referring to. i almost think that tara westover’s educated is a good pairing with this.
thank you to netgalley for the advance copy.
June 4, 2025
I really liked the premise of this book: trad wife influencer goes off the rails with her sham farming lifestyle and...let's face it, child abuse (putting kids in front of the camera against their will). This was a VERY unlikeable main character with little to no redeeming qualities. In fact, other than her kids, NO ONE in this book was likeable, they all were either complicit in the delusion, or also in it just for themselves.
December 14, 2025
wow. this will be the book that everyone is reading and talking about in 2026, mark my words.
November 28, 2025
DNF
I gave this a solid try but decided to ditch it after 150 pages and skim the rest. And I have zero regrets.
Maybe I went into this with the wrong expectations... I'm not big on social media (I even had to google what a 'tradwife' is...), and was most looking forward to the part of the main character, Natalie, waking up in 1800s Idaho and being forced to live the real lifestyle that she tries so hard to emulate on her socials. It soon became apparent that these parts were not the focus of the book, with lengthier chapters dedicated to her past, and the 1800s felt so bland and lacking in any solid historical detail or even descriptions of her surroundings. Judging from the 'big' reveal, I now see why. The book's main focus is on Natalie's struggles with motherhood and a dumb husband who she soon regrets marrying, and I just couldn't quite bring myself to care about any of it.
This will undoubtedly be a big release for 2026, and I'm sure an even bigger film with Anne Hathaway already set to star, but it wasn't for me.
I gave this a solid try but decided to ditch it after 150 pages and skim the rest. And I have zero regrets.
Maybe I went into this with the wrong expectations... I'm not big on social media (I even had to google what a 'tradwife' is...), and was most looking forward to the part of the main character, Natalie, waking up in 1800s Idaho and being forced to live the real lifestyle that she tries so hard to emulate on her socials. It soon became apparent that these parts were not the focus of the book, with lengthier chapters dedicated to her past, and the 1800s felt so bland and lacking in any solid historical detail or even descriptions of her surroundings. Judging from the 'big' reveal, I now see why. The book's main focus is on Natalie's struggles with motherhood and a dumb husband who she soon regrets marrying, and I just couldn't quite bring myself to care about any of it.
This will undoubtedly be a big release for 2026, and I'm sure an even bigger film with Anne Hathaway already set to star, but it wasn't for me.
December 11, 2025
I really enjoyed the first half as an escapist, entertaining read. But the second half was repetitive, nonsensical and full of half-baked ideas and concepts. The mc was so confusing - I didn’t understand what she stood for and who she was (maybe this was the point? But 1st person pov should allow you to actually get in the mc’s head and know them…). Also too many short sentences. So hard to read. So stilted. Too many italics on the page. And the end of the book seems to be set many years in the future but there are no date stamps to indicate this (insta only came out in 2010 yet the ending is set 25 years after the mc first started posting on it).
Great concept / flat execution. This book is going to be everywhere because publishers paid a fortune for it, proving that it’s not the actual content that matters but how easy it is to market and sell. Which, ironically, fits the story of the book.
Great concept / flat execution. This book is going to be everywhere because publishers paid a fortune for it, proving that it’s not the actual content that matters but how easy it is to market and sell. Which, ironically, fits the story of the book.
January 28, 2026
I’m going to give this book 5 stars for being very engrossing and unique. I do, however, also have some misgivings and criticisms about one of primary messages that came through to me.
There’s only so much I can say about the plot without spoiling some things. What I can say is that it is an absolutely scathing critique of tradwife/influencer culture particularly as created by conservative Christian women who romanticize the past. Natalie is clearly coming from a background that sounds like the more extreme end of conservatism, close to what I’d expect from the Duggars. The idea of women being “sweet”, always smiling, covering for the bad behavior of the men, throwing Bible verses out of context to make sense of situations. This isn’t mainstream but it’s sort of presented as though it is. A lot of Christian women have now deconstructed from this craziness and are more sane. I hope it is understood that Natalie is misguided by her own mind and not necessarily the beliefs she’s using as justification for her choices. The critique of influencers romanticizing the past, exploiting their children, faking it for the cameras: all valid even if it’s all a little unfair to the real people who probably don’t all have nefarious purposes behind what they do.
Natalie is a highly unlikeable character for Other Reasons which I won’t get into. But she finds herself married to a man she hates, living a fake life online, with children that she just wants to get away from even as she exploits them online. The story is divided into Past, Present and Future but the Present is also separated into “past” and “present”. It sounds confusing but it’s not and it’s all compelling. When it all comes together, it’s fascinating.
Highly recommended if you are looking to get sucked into a book and want something extremely discussable. You’ll definitely want to talk about it with someone when you finish!
There’s only so much I can say about the plot without spoiling some things. What I can say is that it is an absolutely scathing critique of tradwife/influencer culture particularly as created by conservative Christian women who romanticize the past. Natalie is clearly coming from a background that sounds like the more extreme end of conservatism, close to what I’d expect from the Duggars. The idea of women being “sweet”, always smiling, covering for the bad behavior of the men, throwing Bible verses out of context to make sense of situations. This isn’t mainstream but it’s sort of presented as though it is. A lot of Christian women have now deconstructed from this craziness and are more sane. I hope it is understood that Natalie is misguided by her own mind and not necessarily the beliefs she’s using as justification for her choices. The critique of influencers romanticizing the past, exploiting their children, faking it for the cameras: all valid even if it’s all a little unfair to the real people who probably don’t all have nefarious purposes behind what they do.
Natalie is a highly unlikeable character for Other Reasons which I won’t get into. But she finds herself married to a man she hates, living a fake life online, with children that she just wants to get away from even as she exploits them online. The story is divided into Past, Present and Future but the Present is also separated into “past” and “present”. It sounds confusing but it’s not and it’s all compelling. When it all comes together, it’s fascinating.
Highly recommended if you are looking to get sucked into a book and want something extremely discussable. You’ll definitely want to talk about it with someone when you finish!
December 18, 2025
FUCK.
I had to sit with this one for a few days because what the actual living frick was that?! I think just my favorite book of ever, perhaps (is the answer to my rhetorical question.)
Natalie Heller Mills is our "trad-wife" influencer main character, whose IG grid features raw milk from their dairy cow Sassafrass, sourdough recipes, and traditional family values while living on their farm in Idaho. Everything is prim, proper, and perfect in her little online world, that is, until she wakes up in 1805, with her imposter children and husband, who all believe she is going crazy, because what do you mean you don't belong here, mama???
Convinced she's been abducted and held against her will by some crazy stalker fans, she intends to escape, only to find she's way outside of her element, because present-day Natalie actually has no idea how to live without her modern-day amenities.
There's more to the story here, and readers are whisked away through flashbacks into Natalie's villain origin story from her days at Harvard, meeting her spoiled man-child husband, having his many children, battling PPD (BUT TELLING NOBODY), pushing family away, and unveiling shocking secrets that led her to her current spot.
I'm not trying to spoil the ending, but when I tell you that I TOSSED my Kindle down... I'm not exaggerating... SHEWWWWWWWW.
I am so so so so thankful to Caro Claire Burke, Knopf Books, and Netgalley for the advanced access before pub day -- April 7, 2026.
I had to sit with this one for a few days because what the actual living frick was that?! I think just my favorite book of ever, perhaps (is the answer to my rhetorical question.)
Natalie Heller Mills is our "trad-wife" influencer main character, whose IG grid features raw milk from their dairy cow Sassafrass, sourdough recipes, and traditional family values while living on their farm in Idaho. Everything is prim, proper, and perfect in her little online world, that is, until she wakes up in 1805, with her imposter children and husband, who all believe she is going crazy, because what do you mean you don't belong here, mama???
Convinced she's been abducted and held against her will by some crazy stalker fans, she intends to escape, only to find she's way outside of her element, because present-day Natalie actually has no idea how to live without her modern-day amenities.
There's more to the story here, and readers are whisked away through flashbacks into Natalie's villain origin story from her days at Harvard, meeting her spoiled man-child husband, having his many children, battling PPD (BUT TELLING NOBODY), pushing family away, and unveiling shocking secrets that led her to her current spot.
I'm not trying to spoil the ending, but when I tell you that I TOSSED my Kindle down... I'm not exaggerating... SHEWWWWWWWW.
I am so so so so thankful to Caro Claire Burke, Knopf Books, and Netgalley for the advanced access before pub day -- April 7, 2026.
December 4, 2025
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Thanks to @knopf for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Natalie is known as the perfect Christian American woman. She does it all at her family’s farm. One day she wakes up cold and dirty in 1805.
This was such a wild ride of a book. I loved the back and forth of the timelines. They were both so page turning and would end on the perfect note to keep me wanting more. It was hard to put it down at any point. Natalie is such a horribly unlikeable character, but in a way that makes you just want more. I loved how everything ended; it was quite shocking and I’ll be thinking on if for a while.
“A lesson it has taken me much longer to learn: sometimes the love of strangers is much more terrifying than the hate.”
Read this book if you like:
-Influencer tropes
-Trad wife plots
-Feminism and social commentary
-Internet culture
-Time travel or pioneer living
Yesteryear comes out 4/7.
Natalie is known as the perfect Christian American woman. She does it all at her family’s farm. One day she wakes up cold and dirty in 1805.
This was such a wild ride of a book. I loved the back and forth of the timelines. They were both so page turning and would end on the perfect note to keep me wanting more. It was hard to put it down at any point. Natalie is such a horribly unlikeable character, but in a way that makes you just want more. I loved how everything ended; it was quite shocking and I’ll be thinking on if for a while.
“A lesson it has taken me much longer to learn: sometimes the love of strangers is much more terrifying than the hate.”
Read this book if you like:
-Influencer tropes
-Trad wife plots
-Feminism and social commentary
-Internet culture
-Time travel or pioneer living
Yesteryear comes out 4/7.
November 27, 2025
Natalie Heller Mills is such an unlikable main character, but she is unbelievably captivating. I don’t agree with pretty much any decision she makes throughout the book and, at the same time, I also understand why she makes them all. Wow.
December 27, 2025
the wildest of rides from start to finish. don't want to say too much and spoil anything, but just trust me when I say this was a dreadful, incredible, mesmerising read
December 15, 2025
First good things: compulsively readable, definitely The Chosen One for publishing 2026 and guaranteed to make a splash in the book club world, and the movie sounds cool. Kind of an awesome cover! But… the execution fell flat for me, I felt it didn’t deliver fully on what the snappy premise promised. I kinda got bored halfway because the tone started to become so consistently grinding and therefore kinda dull. It also grew increasingly unbelievable as I kept reading, and seemed to have trouble finding its focus (like what exactly is it trying to say that’s new?). I felt this book was not quite what I expected based on the advertisement, reliant heavily on edgy voice and thin on nuance/substance. Go beyond and make me really think!! (Obviously not all books have to, but because of the way it was advertised/subject material/satire designation, I was given the expectation that it would and hoped for more.) Like I really wanted the author to dig her heels into the topics that she was writing about (tradwives, social media, child abuse, feminism, domestic abuse, etc etc), but a lot of it was skimmed over. Cossette’s review said it best! The parts about religion and God seemed to be so reliant on shock value, creating a caricature rather than a believable and nuanced character. Unlikeable FMCs I am all here for, but I couldn’t put my finger on Natalie and the sometimes inconsistent characterization. Side note: Maybe I’m not the target audience because I don’t watch or haven’t seen much tradwife content!
Thank u to netgalley for the advance copy
Thank u to netgalley for the advance copy
January 27, 2026
Such an incredible, original story. Going to come back and write a full review soon but wow this blew my mind. So so good and can’t wait for this to be out for everyone to read this year. 10/10
January 5, 2026
Wow. What did I just read? At the risk of not letting that banger of an ending percolate more before I review this book, I will say this is a 5 star read wrapped in a four star package rounding out at 4.5. Caro Claire Burke is going to generate a lot of conversations, debate and excellent book club discussions with this outrageous, surprising and wild debut. Is Natalie the devout Christian tradwife she wants the world to believe? Decidedly not. But who is she really and why is suddenly living in an "authentic" (as opposed to social media curated) 19th century farm house with a family who is but aren't her family from the modern era? Strap in, enjoy the ride and the smart social commentary, and then prepare yourself for a doozy of an ending. Highly recommend. Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the DRC.
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