My Review for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

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“I felt like I needed to throw a dish towel over his penis and wait an hour to let it rise.” 😂

I couldn't help myself with this quote - sorry, not sorry! I'm sure I'll need to censor it for some platforms! 🙈

Anyway, #thatbonkersbookclub chose Yesteryear for our Chiller Shelf for July and, quite honestly, I'm still unsure how I feel about it. Weird is the first word that springs to mind, with religious coming a close second. 🤔 Also, since when has the phrase 'trad wife' become a thing? It's only within the last year or so that I've even heard of it - maybe that's just me. 🤷‍♀️

As I'm sure was the author's intention, I was left wondering throughout much of the book exactly why Natalie was in 1855. Was she time-travelling? Was it a reality show? Was she ill? 🧐 You won't get any spoilers from me, so you'll need to read it or ask someone else. 😉

I have rated it quite highly on the places where a star-rating is necessary, but really because the book was well-written and I wanted to know how it all turned out, not because I enjoyed the actual story. ⭐ There was no way I wasn't going to finish it, but would I rush to pick anything else up by this author? Probably not. 🤷‍♀️


About the Book

Natalie lives a 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, 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.




About Caro

Caro Claire Burke received her Master's in Fine Arts from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is the co-host of Diabolical Lies, a politics and culture podcast. Yesteryear is her first novel.






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