Yesteryear: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel (Unabridged)
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4.0 • 1.5K Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR) • A traditional American woman, a “tradwife” influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855—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.
"A bold and biting satire, Yesteryear…will have you cackling and gasping right to the final page."
—Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid series
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 heir to a political dynasty? 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 ruthless 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In this satirical literary thriller, a social media star finds herself trapped in the harsh reality behind the domestic fantasy she sells to her audience. Big-league influencer Natalie Mills has perfected her tradwife pitch—the charming farmhouse, the handsome cowboy husband, and the six perfect kids—which she markets relentlessly to her eight million followers. But when she wakes to find herself in the real pioneer world of 1855 with all its challenges, she must struggle to survive and unravel the strange circumstances that landed her in this rustic nightmare. In her stunning debut, author Caro Claire Burke brilliantly alternates timelines and scenarios: swinging from the ultrapolished performance of the present day to Natalie’s harsh new reality. With piercing wit, her social satire skewers the selling of the unattainable tradwife fantasy and all the hard and hidden work it entails behind the scenes, not to mention the toxic notions lurking underneath. This fascinating and timely novel left us gasping.
Customer Reviews
Insufferable
It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a more sufferable FMC. She is the epitome of our current climate and the author did a great job of making her as empty and as vapid as possible. Be prepared to be angry and irritated but you won’t be able to stop listening
Yesteryear
Wow!!!!
Annoying
The main character is detestable. I can’t bring myself to make it past chapter 8 because there is absolutely nothing redeeming or relatable about this woman. The flashbacks are just further solidifying that she’s been a mean, rude, selfish woman her whole life.
The “now” part is mildly interesting but still not enough to overcome her intense unlike-ability. This book is a giant disappointment. I was hoping for something satirical that would poke fun in all directions but it’s more like a constant barrage of complaining about “regular people”. Lame.