Book Review: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Book 15 of 2026
I did read Yesteryear in Japan, but given the amount of discourse around it I thought the novel deserved its own post. I tried to avoid any serious spoilers.
Yesteryear is exactly what it seems: a satire of tradwife content on social media. This phenomena is not something I’m too familiar with (my algorithm serves up cats, manicure ideas and Alexander Skarsgard) but I’ve seen enough commentary to get the gist. I understand why the novel is striking a chord given our current political landscape and the rise of popular influencers like Ballerina Farm, but I didn’t think it was particularly nuanced. To be fair, I guessed pretty early on what was happening which took the bite out of the ending.
Natalie, raised in a Christian household by her mother, falls in love at Harvard with the wealthy son of a politically active family. She and Caleb quickly marry and have a child, but his lack of ambition threatens their livelihood and her sanity. Reaching back to a discussion they had on their first date, Natalie convinces Caleb’s father to purchase them a farm in Idaho. Despite Caleb’s general uselessness, she harnesses the power of Instagram and some marketing classes to build a small following online. When a right-wing commentator features her brand, Yesteryear, on his radio show, her popularity explodes overnight.
Natalie presents their family as perfect and traditional, living off the land, organic vegetables only, bread baking on the hearth, healthy and happy children homeschooled and tumbling through the grass playing. She and Caleb eventually have six children (never mind the fact that she has to impregnate herself with a turkey baster), leading them to hire two nannies. She also procures outsiders to work on the farm, carefully concealing the significant amount of help they are receiving from the public. Eventually, an incident with one of the nannies brings the wrong kind of attention to Yesteryear, much to the chagrin of Caleb’s father, a presidential hopeful.
Amid this chaos, Natalie wakes up one morning in a strange but vaguely familiar land that feels like the 1800s. There is a man who is like Caleb, but not, and children she doesn’t recognize at all. Stripped of the luxuries of her normal life, Natalie fights desperately to find an escape route. Several options seem possible: time travel, a gruesome reality show, sheer insanity. Will she ever get back to her real family and her beloved Yesteryear Ranch? It’s the ultimate, well, you got what you asked for - living off the land, with a husband who demands your submissiveness. There are no pretty Instagram photos, just dirty children clothed in rags doing chores and falling ill with no medicine to help them.
Highlights:
Natalie is so despicable that I had a hard time rustling up any sympathy for her, but her zingers are pretty hilarious.
The quiet success of Natalie’s mother and sister, whom she always saw as weak, is very satisfying.
Criticisms:
Natalie’s background is pretty vague. I would have loved to know what specific religion she practiced.
Caleb’s character feels like a walking, talking cliche.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5. It’s very witty and the topic is timely, but I felt like Burke could have gone a lot deeper and avoided some common tropes, especially where Caleb is concerned.