From coffee shops to the commuter train, Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke is the debut novel that’s everywhere right now. Only adding to the buzz surrounding the book, the movie rights have already been snapped up in an 11-way bidding war, won by Anne Hathaway who will star in the leading role.
With the novel already dominating WhatsApp groups and office water cooler conversation, it only seemed fitting to choose it as this month’s IndyBest Book Club pick. Part social satire, part thriller, the story taps into the zeitgeist, tackling everything from influencer culture and trad wives to social media, conservative religion and feminism.
I received an early proof last year and tore through the book in two sittings. It’s gripping, pacy and thought-provoking, with a memorable protagonists I loathed but was fascinated by in equal measure. Yesteryear centers around a “trad wife” influencer called Natalie. If you’ve seen the influencer Hannah Neeleman – aka @ballerinafarm – on Instagram, or read about Ruby Franke, Natalie will feel familiar. She lives on a farm, broadcasting sourdough tutorials to her millions of followers, while home schooling her children, flirting with her handsome husband and preaching the benefits of a traditional, rustic, rural life.
Drawing comparisons with controversies surrounding Neeleman, Natalie’s reality is far more fickle: there are nanny’s, social media assistants and extensive farm staff behind the scenes. And day-to-day, she’s navigating moody daughters, internal battles about feminism and a hapless husband in a cowboy hat. Burke’s clever time traveling twist turns the novel on its head.
Previous IndyBest Book Club monthly reads provide plenty of inspiration for your TBR pile, too. So far we’ve read The Wedding People by Alison Espach. A dark and unconventional take on the romcom genre, don’t miss the IndyBest team’s full review of The Wedding People. Last month, Hooked by Asako Yuzuki divided the team with its unlikable protagonist and uncomfortable themes – but those who enjoyed it praised the build up of tension, commentary about the female experience in Japan and the character-driven plot.
As for this month’s pick, the team raced through Yesteryear, enjoying its pacy plot, real-life parallels and shocking twist – here’s our full review.
‘Yesteryear’ by Caro Claire Burke, published by Fourth Estate
Caro Claire Burke’s Yesteryear is one of the most unsettling yet original novels to emerge from the recent wave of “tradwife” discourse. The story follows Natalie, a wildly successful influencer who romanticises domesticity and pioneer living online, only to wake up seemingly transported to the year 1800 and forced to survive the harsh realities of the lifestyle she once glamorised. What begins as a clever satire gradually transforms into something far darker: a critique of social media performatism, motherhood, internet fame and child exploitation.
The book’s greatest strength is its ability to unmask the curated fantasy behind influencer culture. Burke exposes the machinery hidden behind Natalie’s supposedly wholesome lifestyle – the nannies, production, pesticides and carefully staged imagery – while also exploring how social media encourages people to perform idealised versions of themselves. The novel draws clear parallels with real-life controversies surrounding family vloggers and tradwife influencers, particularly in its disturbing depiction of children being used as content – the likes of Hannah Neeleman, Ruby Franke and Tara Westover were all mentioned by the team.
We were in consensus about Natalie herself being a fascinatingly unlikeable narrator. Self-absorbed, manipulative and emotionally detached, she remains compelling precisely because she is so difficult to sympathise with. The only times the reader can really empathise with Natalie is her sweet bond with Maeve, or when she’s suffering from postpartum depression, but this heavy topic is largely skimmed over.
The shocking final twist contextualises much of the novel and elevates it from an intriguing speculative premise into a chilling psychological and cultural commentary. Albeit, some plot details felt a little underdeveloped. We wanted to know why Natalie’s oldest sons agreed to live in the forest and allow Natalie to unravel, as well as what happened to her political, Maga-inspired father-in-law. The manosphere looms in the background of the novel – and Caleb later becomes its embodiment – but the author never thoroughly explores the topic.
Despite occasional pacing issues and unanswered questions, Yesteryear succeeds as both an addictive page-turner and a sharp examination of online identity, conservative femininity and the dangers of turning family life into spectacle. The debut was a crowd-pleasing IndyBest Book Club pick, with both romantasy fans and literary fiction readers engrossed by the stranger-than-fiction – but thoroughly relevant – story.
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