Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is a book you can’t escape hearing about right now. Even if you’re spending your time in online book spaces there’s probably a very good chance you’ve heard of it. Perhaps in relation to Anne Hathaway who has been set to produce and star in the movie adaptation for a few years already (so yes, way before the book was even published!) 

And you know what? It’s no wonder this book is all over the internet – it’s a wild ride! It’s also incredibly relevant and you can’t help but notice the similarities to some popular online trad-wife influencers (Ballerina Farm seems like it could be a big inspiration for this book). 

Yesteryear follows Natalie Heller Mills, a super religious conservative woman that dropped out of university and married the son of a senator at just 19-years-old. Now she lives an ultra-traditional life as the seemingly perfect wife and mother and documents it all for her millions of social media followers. She presents her life as something incredible with her family living on and running a massive farm all by themselves. The reality is that they have tons of help and they’re not really at all happy. Natalie is privileged, beautiful and, honestly, she’s also kind of mean. She gets lots of online criticism from what she calls ‘Angry Women’ but the truth is that she’s always had problems with women that choose to live their lives in ways that she doesn’t deem appropriate.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that she doesn’t recognise. It’s the 1850s, her house is the same but also different, her husband is similar but not the same. She has children but they’re not the ones she remembers. Is God punishing her? Is this some sick, twisted reality show? Has she really been sent back to the 19th century? 

Now Natalie must live the life she’s been peddling online to millions. And she’s determined to figure out a way to get back to her real life.

The thing about this book is that Natalie isn’t a likeable character. I’ve seen some people suggest she seems unrealistic because she is so cruel to almost everyone around her. Personally, I’d say it’s an interesting take on women you see online all of the time. Some people are this mean-spirited and a lot of them do use their religion to justify some of the horrible things they do. They’re hypocritical and mean and take out their anger on the people that don’t deserve it. 

And while Natalie isn’t a good person it’s also hard to not feel sorry for her sometimes. She is a product of her environment. She grew up ultra-conservative and ultra-religious. She ends up marrying a dumb, lazy man with no ambition when she’s just 19-years-old and very quickly begins having children. When she shows clear symptoms of post-partum depression, it’s pushed aside and not spoken about at all. 

I very much enjoyed my experience reading this book. Sometimes audiobook versions don’t really do a book justice – I think this one did. It really brought Natalie to life and I’d really recommend reading in that way if you can. 

Yesteryear is going to be a book that is talked about for a long time to come and I can see it becoming a staple in book clubs – there’s definitely enough to talk about! It’s thought-provoking and discusses so many things relevant to society today. A completely unforgettable novel that I keep thinking about.