Name: Yesteryear
ISBN: 9780008742775

Caro Claire Burke

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.

Yesteryear

biddy

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

'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

an interesting book! definitely dragged at times especially the parts set in the past. but overall entertaining enough to continue reading

jacq bridge

The main character is so unlikeable but that’s what makes it so compelling. 

Sayali

I am struggling to give this a rating since I felt it was really well written (and very well narrated as an audiobook) -the prose flowed easily and, overall, the novel did not seem to suffer from needing a lot of trimming. The twist towards the end was also something I could appreciate for not being the most obvious approach to the denouement of the story and helping to give it a little extra something.

However, I also felt that the novel missed a couple of good opportunities to truly make a commentary on the zeitgeist and "tradwife" / mummy bloggers. While the twist somewhat makes up for it, it felt like the novel was weakened by deciding to contrast the experience of a modern woman who chooses this lifestyle to that of a woman from the 1850's who has no choice for the majority of the novel. This kind of lifestyle is currently being promoted to many young women via social media, uncritically, and the fact of the matter is that the majority of them will not have farmhands, nannies and a rich father-in-law to bankroll their enterprise, and I expected the novel to engage with this a little bit more.

Another disappointing aspect is that the novel does not really delve into the life and reality of tradwife content creators - it still hinges heavily on the assumptions the rest of us make about them based on rare glimpses we get of their lives behind-the-scenes. And while I appreciate that we may never know until someone of the rank of Nara Smith (who does not view herself as "tradwife") or Ballerina Farm does not do a tell-all memoir, it still would have been nice for the novel to tell us something we did not already know. Unfortunately, ultimately, this novel would have always suffered from this - preaching to the choir.

There is a bit of a sense of the novel revelling in punishing its main character and the people pursuing this "traditional" lifestyle which felt a little meanspirited and, again, seemed to lessen its impact. Especially given that the novel did not really have anything particularly complex or layered to say in its critique. But then again, it is not like it sought to depict its more progressive characters as beyond hypocritical and one-dimensional either. (In fact, I really hated the way the novel toyed with sexual assault on several occasions).

Ultimately, while the novel never quite manages to express a viewpoint that is as complex as its topic, I still think it is worth reading. But it might be more enjoyable if the reader disregards the majority of its real-life context and lets it just take them for a ride.

P.S. Can I also say, if you are looking for something to tamp your libido down, read this book. So much unpleasant sex was had, no one was having a good time.

I am struggling to give this a rating since I felt it was really well written (and very well narrated as an audiobook) -the prose flowed easily and, overall, the novel did not seem to suffer from needing a lot of trimming. The twist towards the end was also something I could appreciate for not being the most obvious approach to the denouement of the story and helping to give it a little extra something.

However, I also felt that the novel missed a couple of good opportunities to truly make a commentary on the zeitgeist and "tradwife" / mummy bloggers. While the twist somewhat makes up for it, it felt like the novel was weakened by deciding to contrast the experience of a modern woman who chooses this lifestyle to that of a woman from the 1850's who has no choice for the majority of the novel. This kind of lifestyle is currently being promoted to many young women via social media, uncritically, and the fact of the matter is that the majority of them will not have farmhands, nannies and a rich father-in-law to bankroll their enterprise, and I expected the novel to engage with this a little bit more.

Another disappointing aspect is that the novel does not really delve into the life and reality of tradwife content creators - it still hinges heavily on the assumptions the rest of us make about them based on rare glimpses we get of their lives behind-the-scenes. And while I appreciate that we may never know until someone of the rank of Nara Smith (who does not view herself as "tradwife") or Ballerina Farm does not do a tell-all memoir, it still would have been nice for the novel to tell us something we did not already know. Unfortunately, ultimately, this novel would have always suffered from this - preaching to the choir.

There is a bit of a sense of the novel revelling in punishing its main character and the people pursuing this "traditional" lifestyle which felt a little meanspirited and, again, seemed to lessen its impact. Especially given that the novel did not really have anything particularly complex or layered to say in its critique. But then again, it is not like it sought to depict its more progressive characters as beyond hypocritical and one-dimensional either. (In fact, I really hated the way the novel toyed with sexual assault on several occasions).

Ultimately, while the novel never quite manages to express a viewpoint that is as complex as its topic, I still think it is worth reading. But it might be more enjoyable if the reader disregards the majority of its real-life context and lets it just take them for a ride.

P.S. Can I also say, if you are looking for something to tamp your libido down, read this book. So much unpleasant sex was had, no one was having a good time.

Perfect balance of fun and slightly trashy but still well written and not shit. I liked the twist, wasn’t what I expected. Finished v quickly and was impatient to get stuck into it every evening - the sign of a good book imo! 

Allegrachatterjee

This was such a page turner! I wasn’t sure this would be for me as I cannot stand influencers, but the storyline was captivating

Jacqui Spears

I loved the premise of the book it was so interesting I feel like so much more could have actually come out of it- it felt rushed, it felt wrong, and SO fucking confusing. It did however re affirm my hatred for the Christian trad wife botch I’m what Natalie would call one of those angry women, I’m just so confused i get that thats the plot of the book but it was not done correct in my opinion. Great premise I want to read more about tradwives actually

Anushree Taparia


The ending left me …. Confused?

I loved the premise of the book it was so interesting I feel like so much more could have actually come out of it- it felt rushed, it felt wrong, and SO fucking confusing. It did however re affirm my hatred for the Christian trad wife botch I’m what Natalie would call one of those angry women, I’m just so confused i get that thats the plot of the book but it was not done correct in my opinion. Great premise I want to read more about tradwives actually

This book is a five star, for how it made me feel throughout. The entire time you spend in this book you’re a little bit uncomfortable, a tad confused, the only thing you are confident about is how much you despise the main character and others throughout. That’s usually a big turn off for me but this had me transfixed throughout. 

Definitely recommend. A very clever book. Did not see that ending coming at all. 

Aims

Easy 5⭐️

This book is a five star, for how it made me feel throughout. The entire time you spend in this book you’re a little bit uncomfortable, a tad confused, the only thing you are confident about is how much you despise the main character and others throughout. That’s usually a big turn off for me but this had me transfixed throughout. 

Definitely recommend. A very clever book. Did not see that ending coming at all. 

I’m giving myself some time to process this book and then I am rereading it so I can properly take it all in again. I devoured this in like 3 sittings

I was captivated the entire time. First, because Natalie’s POV is a look into the mind of a tradwife influencer, which I have always been a curious about. Then I was captivated because I could not believe what I was reading. I was reading this book on my phone in my spare time - if you know me, you know that a book has to be INSANELY good for me to be opening Libby on my phone. I probably read the last half of the book with my jaw slack on the floor for various reasons. I had to close my mouth with my hand for the last 1/4 of it. Officially out of my reading slump lol

Nat V

I’m giving myself some time to process this book and then I am rereading it so I can properly take it all in again. I devoured this in like 3 sittings

I was captivated the entire time. First, because Natalie’s POV is a look into the mind of a tradwife influencer, which I have always been a curious about. Then I was captivated because I could not believe what I was reading. I was reading this book on my phone in my spare time - if you know me, you know that a book has to be INSANELY good for me to be opening Libby on my phone. I probably read the last half of the book with my jaw slack on the floor for various reasons. I had to close my mouth with my hand for the last 1/4 of it. Officially out of my reading slump lol

Robyn Smith

This is a three star book in terms of entertainment value, a two star book in terms of writing ability, a one star book in terms of character development, but it ends up being a zero star book because the plot twist is just a rip off of m night shyamalan's the village (which is also low key plagiarism of another book), and it is CRIMINALLY BORING that she did that 

Regan Martin

Precocious in a somewhat distracting way, and maybe about 50 pages longer than it needed to be. BUT, those are my only minor critiques. I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. Ultimately a humanistic and compassionate book. And a little scary too. 