NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

We will be buddy reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. This is her debut and it publishes April 7th. Everyone is welcome to join. We have not decided on a date yet, Probably some time in March.



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.

This book is currently read now if anyone wants to grab it.

Oh great!

Are we ready to pick a start date for this one? I'm thinking mid-March if that works for you? I have a lot of travel planned in March, so the best time for me will likely be around the 17th. How about you?

Ooh—I got/read this one last year. I'm looking forward to discussing!

I’m traveling March 19-24 so I may lag, but I don’t mind that if around the 17th works best for everyone else.

March 17 works for me.

Ok, I'll put it in for March 17th. :)

Shruti, feel free to start a little early if you want to. I have the ebook, so this one will probably take a little longer for me to get through than an audio.

I get home from travel late on the 16th and leave again the morning of the 25th. It's actually the longest stretch I'll be home in March. I'm hoping to finish before I leave again, but if not I'll just take it with me. :)