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Yesteryear
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26A 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews
December 2, 2025
This is a deeply engrossing debut novel with a lot of ambition. And it also goes completely off the rails at the end. Natalie, the protagonist, is kind of fascinating. Truly, artfully unlikable. Unapologetically so. What works well is how much she visibly strains to act normal and “perfect” while harboring truly noxious beliefs about herself, her family, and everyone around her as well as the world at large. She is despicable and it shows and it’s repulsive but also compelling! What works less well is the plot of Natalie as a tradwife influencer who is thrust back into ye olde times and must make sense of what’s happening. The last quarter of the novel is kind of unhinged and at times ludicrous and at times too pat. Maybe that’s the point. I will be curious to see what other readers think.
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!
November 6, 2025
the 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!
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 2, 2025
i’m gagged this was so good
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.
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 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.
Read
November 22, 2025Everyone is going to be talking about this when it drops
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
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.
Read
October 17, 2025never 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.
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.
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 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 8, 2025
Yesteryear is going to be one of the most discussed debuts in 2026 literary fiction. You truly cannot miss it. It was one of my most anticipated reads, and it really delivered.
This is the story of Natalie, a conservative Christian influencer living her picture-perfect life on an Idaho farm with her cowboy/nepo baby husband and their six children. But one day, she wakes up in the same house, only it’s the year 1805. Suddenly, all her traditional values and habits are no longer just aesthetic choices – they have become her new reality.
This novel offers a sharp, dual-layered commentary. On one hand, it exposes how social media influencers, who are constantly present in our lives, distort our perception of reality by presenting a completely fabricated picture. On the other, it examines the ongoing allure of the trad wife phenomenon, which, at the end of the day, is not something unique to our times. What makes this book stand out though, is how it delivers these ideas through a genuinely compelling story. It’s well written, engaging, and filled with just the right amount of suspense.
From the very first pages, we’re drawn into the mystery of what truly happened to Natalie and how she came to find herself in 1805. That mystery, gradually unfolding through a narrative told across two timelines, drives the story forward and keeps you turning the pages. And while the ultimate resolution may not meet every reader’s expectations, it’s a twist that most will find both surprising and thought-provoking. One also cannot deny that the book is remarkably well plotted for a debut novel.
One of the reasons this novel is so compelling is the creation of its main character, Natalie. She doesn’t really go through any kind of positive character development, and there are absolutely no grounds for a reader to like her. Still, she’s such a complex protagonist that you can’t help but feel curious about what’s really going to happen to her. And since the other characters are just as terrible, you might even find yourself, on some level, rooting for her. I believe the way Natalie is portrayed is the perfect example of how one should write an unlikable protagonist. Caro Claire Burke really did a great job here.
Having read this book, I’m not at all surprised it was acquired in an 11-way auction – it’s easy to see why so many publishers wanted it. It’s a rare example of a story that balances sharp social commentary with an engaging, page-turning plot, offering both entertainment and insight in equal measure. A real gem, and one that’s sure to generate plenty of buzz. I’m very curious about this author’s future literary endeavors, as she has truly proven herself to be an exceptional talent.
Thank you NetGalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This is the story of Natalie, a conservative Christian influencer living her picture-perfect life on an Idaho farm with her cowboy/nepo baby husband and their six children. But one day, she wakes up in the same house, only it’s the year 1805. Suddenly, all her traditional values and habits are no longer just aesthetic choices – they have become her new reality.
This novel offers a sharp, dual-layered commentary. On one hand, it exposes how social media influencers, who are constantly present in our lives, distort our perception of reality by presenting a completely fabricated picture. On the other, it examines the ongoing allure of the trad wife phenomenon, which, at the end of the day, is not something unique to our times. What makes this book stand out though, is how it delivers these ideas through a genuinely compelling story. It’s well written, engaging, and filled with just the right amount of suspense.
From the very first pages, we’re drawn into the mystery of what truly happened to Natalie and how she came to find herself in 1805. That mystery, gradually unfolding through a narrative told across two timelines, drives the story forward and keeps you turning the pages. And while the ultimate resolution may not meet every reader’s expectations, it’s a twist that most will find both surprising and thought-provoking. One also cannot deny that the book is remarkably well plotted for a debut novel.
One of the reasons this novel is so compelling is the creation of its main character, Natalie. She doesn’t really go through any kind of positive character development, and there are absolutely no grounds for a reader to like her. Still, she’s such a complex protagonist that you can’t help but feel curious about what’s really going to happen to her. And since the other characters are just as terrible, you might even find yourself, on some level, rooting for her. I believe the way Natalie is portrayed is the perfect example of how one should write an unlikable protagonist. Caro Claire Burke really did a great job here.
Having read this book, I’m not at all surprised it was acquired in an 11-way auction – it’s easy to see why so many publishers wanted it. It’s a rare example of a story that balances sharp social commentary with an engaging, page-turning plot, offering both entertainment and insight in equal measure. A real gem, and one that’s sure to generate plenty of buzz. I’m very curious about this author’s future literary endeavors, as she has truly proven herself to be an exceptional talent.
Thank you NetGalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 6, 2025
This book went against my expectations at every turn. It was an incredibly sharp insight to the types of personalities and motives behind what we see on instagram and beyond.
Highly recommend- I could not figure out how it would end and omg it was shockingly good!!!
Highly recommend- I could not figure out how it would end and omg it was shockingly good!!!
August 11, 2025
Natalie, an influencer known for her traditional lifestyle and (white nationalist) Christian values finds herself back in the nineteenth century, filthy, scared, and desperate to escape a life that seems a mocking shadow of her shiny persona. She has no idea how she landed there, and is treated by her husband and children as a prisoner to be subdued. Burke manages to strike an amazing balance--fiercely skewering the politics and hypocrisy of Natalie and her extended family in the 21st century, while drawing us in to the very human but weird story of a woman we don't like very much. Who is relatable? Who is reliable? I found the ending heartbreaking, though a bit surprising. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time.
August 4, 2025
my god this is going to be the book of this year. phenomenal. one of a kind. Such a unique plot and I devoured every second of it.
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.
November 10, 2025
I don’t know how to feel about this! On one hand, I was hooked. Natalie was such a deplorable character I could not put this down. I hated her and her inner monologue, she was cruel, unlikeable and deeply unkind.
On the other hand, I felt this book only grazed the surface of deeper issues. It skipped over white supremacy, rape, child abuse and a whole host of other incredibly dark and important topics, blaming the lack of exploration on Natalie’s unreliable narrative. The entire book being in her POV felt like a waste of opportunity, as readers we never really understand the wrongs of the story. I wish we got another narrative, maybe Clementine or Mary.
I can’t deny that this was an addictive book to read, and that I tore through it in one day. But I also feel like it was missing something, it was entertaining but didn’t feel impactful. There was so much left unsaid.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Yesteryear #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
On the other hand, I felt this book only grazed the surface of deeper issues. It skipped over white supremacy, rape, child abuse and a whole host of other incredibly dark and important topics, blaming the lack of exploration on Natalie’s unreliable narrative. The entire book being in her POV felt like a waste of opportunity, as readers we never really understand the wrongs of the story. I wish we got another narrative, maybe Clementine or Mary.
I can’t deny that this was an addictive book to read, and that I tore through it in one day. But I also feel like it was missing something, it was entertaining but didn’t feel impactful. There was so much left unsaid.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Yesteryear #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
September 29, 2025
This was a book that felt like it was written for me lol and it was one that I couldn't stop thinking about every time I put it down so I'm obsessed with it and will be telling everyone to read it
December 3, 2025
Yesteryear was my most anticipated read of 2026, so I was thrilled to receive this ARC. I’m happy to report that it not only met, but exceeded my expectations. Tradwife Natalie Heller Mills has a perfect online life, but one morning she awakes to find herself in the 1800s forced to live the life she models on Instagram. This book is such an excellent illustration of how we all choose to present ourselves online, and Caro Claire Burke executes this concept perfectly with her wry commentary. Natalie is such a fun narrator to read as she’s both an insanely delusional character and also entirely relatable for trying to do whatever she can to grasp any shred of power she can in this world. Burke’s scathing critique in Yesteryear isn’t just of the tradwife phenomenon (although it’s certainly not spared any punches), but of the capitalist system we all find ourselves participating in and seeking to find power in (or escape from), and the lies we tell ourselves to get by.
The twists and turns in this novel are well trodden ground by now so I don’t want to beat a dead horse (or Sassafrass, as the case may be. May she rest in peace), but the way Burke wraps up this plot is truly remarkable. This book upsets structure in the best way, and I was engaged until the very last page. I can’t wait for this book to come out and for all of the commentary that will certainly surround it as the world gets to experience Yesteryear Ranch for the first time.
The twists and turns in this novel are well trodden ground by now so I don’t want to beat a dead horse (or Sassafrass, as the case may be. May she rest in peace), but the way Burke wraps up this plot is truly remarkable. This book upsets structure in the best way, and I was engaged until the very last page. I can’t wait for this book to come out and for all of the commentary that will certainly surround it as the world gets to experience Yesteryear Ranch for the first time.
December 1, 2025
A huge thank you to Harper Collins, Netgalley and author Caro Claire Burke for an advanced copy of Yesteryear in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows Natalie – a trad wife and influencer who exemplifies her perfectly polished lifestyle on social media whilst being the curator of her online lifestyle brand ‘Yesteryear.’ She has everything: a charming farmstead, an attractive cowboy husband and her five children who are well-behaved angels. But what her followers don’t know is that this lifestyle and online persona is a complete sham. One morning, Natalie wakes to find herself in a warped version of reality, where things feel familiar yet entirely foreign.
There’s nothing I love more than reading about egotistical, asshole women going off the rails. Natalie, being a white nationalist with Christian values would typically give me the ick. However, since written in a satirical way, I found it incredibly amusing. For such an unlikable character, her inner thoughts were hilarious: “It didn’t help that he was about as hard as half-risen dough. I felt like I needed to throw a dish towel over his penis and wait an hour to let it rise.”
Underneath her awfulness were flickers of humanity and very real struggles around marriage, motherhood and the impossible expectation of leading the perfect life. I found myself rooting for Natalie until she’d go and say something racist or homophobic and I’d want to straddle her again.
Between the unreliable narrator, addictive plot and flawlessly sharp writing, this book had me truly engrossed. An immaculate debut from Caro Claire Burke which I anticipate will be huge upon its release.
Publication date: 07 April 2026
The story follows Natalie – a trad wife and influencer who exemplifies her perfectly polished lifestyle on social media whilst being the curator of her online lifestyle brand ‘Yesteryear.’ She has everything: a charming farmstead, an attractive cowboy husband and her five children who are well-behaved angels. But what her followers don’t know is that this lifestyle and online persona is a complete sham. One morning, Natalie wakes to find herself in a warped version of reality, where things feel familiar yet entirely foreign.
There’s nothing I love more than reading about egotistical, asshole women going off the rails. Natalie, being a white nationalist with Christian values would typically give me the ick. However, since written in a satirical way, I found it incredibly amusing. For such an unlikable character, her inner thoughts were hilarious: “It didn’t help that he was about as hard as half-risen dough. I felt like I needed to throw a dish towel over his penis and wait an hour to let it rise.”
Underneath her awfulness were flickers of humanity and very real struggles around marriage, motherhood and the impossible expectation of leading the perfect life. I found myself rooting for Natalie until she’d go and say something racist or homophobic and I’d want to straddle her again.
Between the unreliable narrator, addictive plot and flawlessly sharp writing, this book had me truly engrossed. An immaculate debut from Caro Claire Burke which I anticipate will be huge upon its release.
Publication date: 07 April 2026
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
December 5, 2025
5 stars hands down. I loooved this book. Amazing that it’s a debut novel!
Natalie Heller Mills. Tradwife. Influencer. Perfect at being alive.
She’s disingenuous and despicable and a hypocrite, but boy is she addicting.
She has the perfect farm in rural Idaho, several children, and over a million followers. She posts videos about making soap and biscuits, and milking her cow, Sassafras. But suddenly she wakes one morning and it’s 1805. Her house is her house, but not her house. Her family is slightly off.
I won’t say more because you shouldn’t know more before you go in. I highly, highly recommend. Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this eARC!
Natalie Heller Mills. Tradwife. Influencer. Perfect at being alive.
She’s disingenuous and despicable and a hypocrite, but boy is she addicting.
She has the perfect farm in rural Idaho, several children, and over a million followers. She posts videos about making soap and biscuits, and milking her cow, Sassafras. But suddenly she wakes one morning and it’s 1805. Her house is her house, but not her house. Her family is slightly off.
I won’t say more because you shouldn’t know more before you go in. I highly, highly recommend. Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this eARC!
November 28, 2025
4.5 stars! Wow—what a ride! Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is one of those books that sneaks up on you. It starts off feeling like a sharp satire of the trad wife influencer life and the authenticity of what is real vs curated and then flips into something much darker and stranger. Natalie, our main character, wakes up in 1805 and has to figure out if this is time travel or something else entirely.
I have to say, I spent most of the book wondering where we were headed and how this was going to wrap up. I could have gone so many different directions but luckily the payoff was worth it! Burke does a great job creating a layered storyline with compelling characters - Natalie is messy, funny, and frustrating in all the best ways—she’s the kind of character you want to yell at but also root for.
The commentary on authenticity and gender roles is spot-on, and the historical details make the whole thing feel gritty and real. If you’re into books that mix satire, suspense, and a dash of speculative weirdness, this is absolutely worth your time.
I have to say, I spent most of the book wondering where we were headed and how this was going to wrap up. I could have gone so many different directions but luckily the payoff was worth it! Burke does a great job creating a layered storyline with compelling characters - Natalie is messy, funny, and frustrating in all the best ways—she’s the kind of character you want to yell at but also root for.
The commentary on authenticity and gender roles is spot-on, and the historical details make the whole thing feel gritty and real. If you’re into books that mix satire, suspense, and a dash of speculative weirdness, this is absolutely worth your time.
December 8, 2025
read this partially in a poor-wifi log cabin in the mountains w my dad and brother. so basically I got the deluxe 4D experience
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