Name: Yesteryear
Rating: 3.837765957446809 (94 reviews)
ISBN: 9780008742782

Caro Claire Burke

'NIGHTMARISH, SHOCKING, BRILLIANT' STYLIST 'THE BOOK THAT WILL BE EVERYWHERE IN 2026' INDEPENDENT 'EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT IT!' JENNIE GODFREY 'BOLD, BITING. WILL LEAVE YOU GASPING' NITA PROSE ‘WICKEDLY FUNNY' ABIGAIL DEAN 'SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR, LACED WITH DARKNESS' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE' ASHLEY AUDRAIN

Yesteryear

biddy

All men wanted to become legends. It was so embarassing.

Bekki

And who was I? A flawless Christian woman. The manic pixie American dream girl of this nation’s deepest, darkest fantasies. The mother every woman wanted to be, and the wife every man wanted to come home to. Like a nun in a porno, it didn’t make sense, but also, by God: it worked. My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

The boys would keep us fed when we were old and feeble, I liked to say, but the girls? They would dance around our wheelchairs, toss rose petals over our graves. Plus, I’ll admit it: they were easier to train. The boys occasionally resisted or got frustrated or bored, but not the girls. They could perform on film for hours without complaint, just like their mama.

I picked up the phone and pressed record, right as Clementine was getting into the passenger seat. 

“Girls,” I said, smiling into the lit-up screen, “what did you get at our very special trip to Target today?” 

Jessa and Junebug squealed in response: “A stuffie!” “Sparkly lotion!” “What about you, Clementine?”

 I angled the camera so it featured me, grinning, and Clementine’s form in the passenger seat. 

Clementine had gotten a new shade of nail polish. But she didn’t reply. 

“Clementine, what did you get at—” “Stop filming me.” I froze. My face flooded with heat. She’d never done that before. Not once.

When it comes to consent, do you think children are capable of— 

When it comes to consent and the use of children’s likenesses on public social media accounts— 

“Actually, I need to take a quick break to use the restroom. Would that be all right?”

“Now,” I said, “let’s pray on it.” 

We kneeled together at the foot of the couch. I pressed my forehead into my clasped hands and tried to breathe the anger out of me, but I couldn’t. 

It was like a germ. It just kept replicating in my stomach. 

Usually my husband’s failures were easy to forgive, but tonight I wanted to kill him. 

I could practically see his insipid prayers float past me, in little Comic Sans thought bubbles.

" Please keep my kids safe, Lord, along with the chickens. Help my wife continue to love me. A blow job would be nice, Lord, and if it’s not too much, I’d like the strength to become something memorable. I’d like to become a legend."

I wanted the whole entire world to see itself through my eyes. 

A new level of influence. That’s not the kind of thing you ask for directly, though, so I settled for something simpler. 

Please let this plan work, Lord. Please don’t let her win. 

And please give my husband a spine. I’m tired of him needing to borrow mine. Amen.

You’re so strong, just a few more pushes now, you can do this, Mama— 

In the instant before my daughter came screaming into the world, I felt, for the second time in my life, a debilitating certainty of the wrongness of the situation. 

I felt this certainty in the deepest parts of my body, and so it seemed inevitable that He would intervene before this mistake of parenthood developed further. 

Or maybe He was going to punish me in some other way: Caleb was going to slip and fall and hit his head on the corner of the bed, my mother was going to suffer a fatal car accident on the way to the hospital.

A trade must take place for this life to enter the world. 

As my body slowly halved open like a peach, I realized it was me who was losing my life; me who would vanish from the world to make room for this new child.

For one single moment, I wished the child gone. 

Not just out of me, but out of this world. 

Then the room was filled with her bellowing, and the fear fell away, and the love—or something like it—came tunneling back through.

“It’s huge.” “I know,” I said, matching her tone. “I told Caleb it was way too big.” 

That was the way women operated in my community: if you wanted to be a wealthy Christian woman and maintain good standing, you needed to publicly disavow your luxuries in order to maintain possession of them. 

It was a strange tug-and-pull I’d borne witness to my entire life. 

The only surprise was that it was finally happening to me. 

I was becoming the kind of woman other women were jealous of.

 Each time I looked at the ring, I felt an intoxicating combination of embarrassment and glee. 

It was a rich, decadent piece of jewelry. 

If I looked at it for too long, I started to feel sick. 

It was too much, it was a shameful display of wealth, I should give it back and demand we find something smaller, and also: I’d launch a holy war before I parted with it.

As for Caleb, he insisted it was a perfect diamond for a woman like me. I was a flawless woman, he said. 

“I’ve been thinking about it, you know,” she whispered. 

“Getting birth control. Bryce doesn’t believe in it, but I heard you can just go to the doctor and get it. Without them knowing, I mean.” 

I sat up, startling her, and hissed, “Birth control? Lying to your husband? These are sins, Abigail.” 

“I’m sorry you’re having a hard time, but it’s not fair for you to project your issues onto my life.”

At one point he glanced out the side of the driver window and said, “See that?” 

 As he set down the soda, burped, and rolled into a long monologue about how we should file right away for dark sky protections, I reminded myself to set screen limits for my husband when we got home. 

He’d been spending too much time on YouTube these days. He was starting to sound like a hick.

“Well,” I said. “I’ll just let you get to it, then!” 

“Oh, and what’s your Instagram handle? I’d love to follow you!” 

“Oh. I don’t have Instagram, actually.” 

This was the strangeness of becoming famous online. 

I had a million followers, I could access more people in a single moment than any European king of the last thousand years, and then someone could effortlessly wipe my entire kingdom away with a single sentence: I don’t have Instagram.

Then she shrugged. “Okay. And your littlest one? Where is she?” 

“Our little firecracker. She’s sleeping. I’ll bring her to you at three.” 

Jessa was barely a year old, not so much a firecracker as a mushy puddle of need and want—but I’d needed a way to differentiate her online, a way for the Angry Women to know and remember her, and she had been very fussy lately, and so the moniker had stuck.

“Here we are!” I opened the door, and Nanny Aimee looked up at me from the lower bunk bed. 

“Nanny Aimee,” I said, “this is Shannon.”

A strange little girl was standing by the bed, playing with Nanny Aimee’s shoes. 

“Mama,” she said when she saw me. Right. 

Of course. That was my little girl, Jessa. Growing so quickly these days! 

I just didn’t recognize her because of the location—and her hair, it was braided differently—and well— Pregnancy brain! 

I dropped to a crouch and spread my arms wide. “Hello, darling girl!”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I enjoyed this so much more an I anticipated. I genuinely laughed, sighed, screamed throughout this read. Natalie is a very unlikable woman, yet the author still makes her sympathetic in some ways. There’s times where I deeply understand her and root for her, and others when I want her to get exactly what I think she deserves.

There at two reasons this is not a five star book for me. The first is that I would likely not reread this, which is usually how I gauge a perfect score. The second is that I wish we got more time with her in the pioneer era setting.

Overall, I had so much fun reading this. I haven’t looked at the criticism for why some people didn’t like this, but I can’t imagine it would sway me.

Nik ✨

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I enjoyed this so much more an I anticipated. I genuinely laughed, sighed, screamed throughout this read. Natalie is a very unlikable woman, yet the author still makes her sympathetic in some ways. There’s times where I deeply understand her and root for her, and others when I want her to get exactly what I think she deserves.

There at two reasons this is not a five star book for me. The first is that I would likely not reread this, which is usually how I gauge a perfect score. The second is that I wish we got more time with her in the pioneer era setting.

Overall, I had so much fun reading this. I haven’t looked at the criticism for why some people didn’t like this, but I can’t imagine it would sway me.

Natalie lives a perfect, traditional lifestyle - and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy and her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don't know won't hurt them.

Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children - they're all familiar, but something's off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.

As darkly funny as it is shocking and gripping. Yesteryear is an electrifying examination of tradition, fame, faith and the grand performance of womanhood. from a thrilling new talent in fiction.

I wanted to only start this book today but here I am 7 hours later, having finished it. 

Oh wow. 

I wanted to only start this book today but here I am 7 hours later, having finished it. 

What a story. 

chewed through this much quicker than i anticipated. kind of absurd and strange, begging the question of how far are you willing to take a delusion if your survival hinges on it? what does agency really look like? i think there's an element of class here that's kind of evident but not really as dug into as it could be? which is kind of a running theme throughout the novel. to be fair i don't think this novel comes across as some sort of answer or call and response, but takes the concept of tradwife and religious fanaticism and sees how far it can stretch it. and it 

despite being the main hinge of the book, for a large part of the reading i actually found the 'time travel' bit to be the least engaging until like the third act i would say? like her current life is way more compelling in my opinion, though the payoff towards the end i think is worth it. 

natalie as a main character is not very likable but someone i find personally kind of interesting. again the idea of class and indoctrination play a part, and watching her try to maintain some semblance of control while also realizing how little of it she has in the first place is, to me, what drives the story. hate to bring other voices into my own review but i feel like the responses to her as a character have been kind of polarizing? like yeah she sucks and is like not a good person and is a bitch! and it might get stretched to the extreme (it's a satire??) but i still think her character did have some level of nuance and maybe isn't as flat as she's accused of. 

towards the end i do think things got a bit too big for their britches. and also contained two of my pet peeves, one being when a character thinks something and realizes belatedly they said it out loud (boring! lazy!) and the other being when someone uses all caps to depict a character yelling (you already said they roared! i get it!)

overall absurdist to me and engaging. not sure if it's either the best or worst read of the year but can see how it got everyone talking.

tiff <3

chewed through this much quicker than i anticipated. kind of absurd and strange, begging the question of how far are you willing to take a delusion if your survival hinges on it? what does agency really look like? i think there's an element of class here that's kind of evident but not really as dug into as it could be? which is kind of a running theme throughout the novel. to be fair i don't think this novel comes across as some sort of answer or call and response, but takes the concept of tradwife and religious fanaticism and sees how far it can stretch it. and it stretches it. 

despite being the main hinge of the book, for a large part of the reading i actually found the 'time travel' bit to be the least engaging until like the third act i would say? like her current life is way more compelling in my opinion, though the payoff towards the end i think is worth it. 

natalie as a main character is not very likable but someone i find personally kind of interesting. again the idea of class and indoctrination play a part, and watching her try to maintain some semblance of control while also realizing how little of it she has in the first place is, to me, what drives the story. hate to bring other voices into my own review but i feel like the responses to her as a character have been kind of polarizing? like yeah she sucks and is like not a good person and is a bitch! and it might get stretched to the extreme (it's a satire??) but i still think her character did have some level of nuance and maybe isn't as flat as she's accused of. 

towards the end i do think things got a bit too big for their britches. and also contained two of my pet peeves, one being when a character thinks something and realizes belatedly they said it out loud (boring! lazy!) and the other being when someone uses all caps to depict a character yelling (you already said they roared! i get it!)

overall absurdist to me and engaging. not sure if it's either the best or worst read of the year but can see how it got everyone talking.

It was good! I really enjoyed reading it. Showed what being a woman and mother can do to you 

Ava DeFrances

Maddy

I get the hype!! This book was a ride from start to finish. It was unpleasant to be inside the mind of someone like that, but I love an unlikable narrator. I guessed the twist wrong, but love the way this twist played out. And I think it’s quite powerful to ultimately make the book about the child endangerment in the entertainment world - having it end on her daughter’s book’s prologue. Enjoyed it thoroughly! 

Harlee K

An extremely hard to finish due to how plain and shallow the conflicts are… Sure it depicts the issues lots of children of so called influencers are facing, but I believe they are more multifaceted than how they are described in the book. First third of the book was promising until the issues got repetitive.

Alisha

Certainly don't feel it lived up to its hype.

It was intriguing but I felt my motivation to keep reading was merely to find out the twist or reveal as opposed to enjoying it as it was. I found the language quite childish and not at all eloquent. Obviously we're not supposed to LIKE the characters but they were so one dimensional, like stereotypes, not real people.

Emma Fagan

Certainly don't feel it lived up to its hype.

It was intriguing but I felt my motivation to keep reading was merely to find out the twist or reveal as opposed to enjoying it as it was. I found the language quite childish and not at all eloquent. Obviously we're not supposed to LIKE the characters but they were so one dimensional, like stereotypes, not real people.

love the back and forth from the present and the “past”. Captured how easy it is to become swept up into social media, and how quickly the lines blur from reality and an online personality. Fun way to get back into a reading streak!

riya

thya

4.5 stars !!! very good read... I wasn't sad for anyone in this book tbh they all suck except the kids

What the helly? Reeeally disliked the narrator. But also think that was kinda the point. 3 stars because there was still something addictive about this read. 

Kaitlyn Wendler

If you think you know where the ending is going…no you don’t 

Ella Williams

Wow this book is really weird

If you think you know where the ending is going…no you don’t 

The concept is original and i love that it relates to the influencer vs reality. Natalie is such an unreliable narrator and the plot twist in the end was interesting. Overall a great feminist read.

Sheila Mae Moradas

Mormons, cult behaviour, and Mormon family YouTubers are for real my crack cocaine. 

All of the time I have invested in consuming all the content on Ruby Franke, Nara Smith and BallerinaFarm and many more has finally paid off - including that hellish interview from Nara with call her daddy… I do think that if you are not familiar with all of these stories you are missing a big chunk of context and references though, but fr sums up the Mormon YouTuber lore. 

It is sad that a lot of women and men are falling into these types of beliefs, hopefully they would get educated on these topics and also on the misguided reality of the influencers who promote these “trad family” values - and who also btw do NOT follow them! The trad lifestyle is a big fat lie!! 

Anywho, a very good book and more if you understand the lore. I can see why some people don’t like it, but I will just say que no entienden la puta vibra.

Denisse Garcia Ramírez 

Mormons, cult behaviour, and Mormon family YouTubers are for real my crack cocaine. 

All of the time I have invested in consuming all the content on Ruby Franke, Nara Smith and BallerinaFarm and many more has finally paid off - including that hellish interview from Nara with call her daddy… I do think that if you are not familiar with all of these stories you are missing a big chunk of context and references though, but fr sums up the Mormon YouTuber lore. 

It is sad that a lot of women and men are falling into these types of beliefs, hopefully they would get educated on these topics and also on the misguided reality of the influencers who promote these “trad family” values - and who also btw do NOT follow them! The trad lifestyle is a big fat lie!! 

Anywho, a very good book and more if you understand the lore. I can see why some people don’t like it, but I will just say que no entienden la puta vibra.

This book has broken my brain. It is so complex. No words. Would have liked to know how the interview went.

I loved to hate her until I just felt bad for the kids. Truly a prison of her own making!

The plot at the end really got me! (My mind went blank after finishing) And how ironic that she was always unknowingly projecting herself on Reena and the mad women and how she was so above it all!

Nina May

I loved to hate her until I just felt bad for the kids. Truly a prison of her own making!

The plot at the end really got me! (My mind went blank after finishing) And how ironic that she was always unknowingly projecting herself on Reena and the mad women and how she was so above it all!

Kind of hate/rage read it… great bookclub fodder

Isabella

Netra

Steph

If there’s one thing this book taught me, it’s to be careful what you wish for. Literally. In Yesteryear, we follow Natalie, a trad-wife influencer who preaches the traditional lifestyle—eat organic, shop local, be a loving wife. Basically, the kind of content that feels like it would set feminism back 100 years. One day, she wakes up in a cold, filthy world and realizes she’s now living the exact life she romanticized online: no modern technology, no nannies, no conveniences—nothing. I really enjoyed the satirical commentary in this book. As much as I hated Natalie’s character, I understood why she needed to be written this way. She’s the type of person you absolutely despise, yet somehow can’t stop watching out of spite. The author did a great job portraying that dynamic—how Natalie is fully aware that people hate her and her lifestyle, yet she thrives on the attention and outrage. Of course, everything eventually comes back to bite her. The ending was a twist I genuinely didn’t see coming. Was I shocked? Absolutely. It completely caught me off guard, but it also fit the theme of the story perfectly: be careful what you wish for. Sometimes the things you manifest come true—just not in the way you imagined.

erin

Your mother lies to you, and then you lie to your children, and then your children lie to their children, and then you are an old woman, looking back at your own life, lying to yourself.
it's interesting how there is a spark of feminism in her but it quelled by her own superiority complex and jealousy. she's well-aware of the fact that misogyny rules the world and that her religion is a tool to oppress women, but at the same time, she's surprised that feminism exists and that women dare to hate men and that all women do is perform for the patriarchy instead of enjoying the abuse endlessly. many such cases!

My husband wanted too little from his life. And me? I wanted too much. Suddenly it was so obvious: Caleb should’ve been born a woman, and I should’ve been born a man.

I really enjoyed this satirical writing. The main characters were all insufferable, but it was addicting at the same time! I don’t read many books where the villain is the main character so that’s always refreshing. 

I think the ending was well thought out. All the loose ends were tied up. I would definitely recommend this book for an easy/entertaining read. 

Hadley 

I really enjoyed this satirical writing. The main characters were all insufferable, but it was addicting at the same time! I don’t read many books where the villain is the main character so that’s always refreshing. 

I think the ending was well thought out. All the loose ends were tied up. I would definitely recommend this book for an easy/entertaining read. 

Freaky as hell. Loved every bit. Read it 2 days! A little bit like M. Night 

 The Village, a lot a bit Ballerina Farms. Fascinating, funny, creepy and kind of relatable? Just glad someone’s addressing all of it. Thought the grocery store veggies / the fact that they can’t actually farm and her inability to make a good sourdough loaf was just hilarious and I loved the way all of the pretend ends up coming full circle, completing it all nicely for the reader.

Lily Dendy

Freaky as hell. Loved every bit. Read it 2 days! A little bit like M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Village, a lot a bit Ballerina Farms. Fascinating, funny, creepy and kind of relatable? Just glad someone’s addressing all of it. Thought the grocery store veggies / the fact that they can’t actually farm and her inability to make a good sourdough loaf was just hilarious and I loved the way all of the pretend ends up coming full circle, completing it all nicely for the reader.

Loved this deep dive into the facade of social media.  Felt a real connection to the protagonist, despite her flaws.  It was beautifully written, and visceral.  The “it was all a dream” style ending could have been cliche, but connected back through the story in such a way, that it was profound.  

Emily Hylton

Enjoyed while I was reading but fell apart in some spots esp the end. And a tradwife that can't make a good sourdough loaf... what??? 

Yesteryear

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