Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (2026)
Fiction | Psychological Thriller & Satire
Blurb:
A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1805—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.
My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.
Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.
A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.
Goodreads | Amazon
pooled ink Review:
WHAT DID I JUST READ?? This might sound crazy to anyone who’s read this book, but when I first heard the general premise I thought this might be a dark comedy or comedy of some sort (I don’t know why I kept hoping that was the case even after reading the official blurb). Let me please inform any readers who have not yet begun this book that Yesteryear is definitely NOT a comedy lol. It’s a time-flipping, psychological vortex of WILD and the ending is so fitting because it ends up exactly like the kind of documentaries/docu-series I love to binge on Netflix: insane and filled with one what?? after another lol.
I don’t even know how to review this without wanting to gush about spoilers… Just know this is the type of book that will leave you processing, screaming, and desperate to discuss it with somebody! Oooo what a good book club pick this book would be…
The subject? Social Media Influencers. Specifically? Tradwives. Haven’t heard the term “tradwife” before? Well…there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be a homemaker, a stay-at-home mother, or any other type of wife that personally prefers a life that happens to adhere to what is today seen as more traditional values and gender roles. To me, the heart of feminism is supporting ALL women and fighting for their freedom to live HOWEVER they wish whether that’s being a wife, having babies, staying home, etc. or never marrying or never having kids or becoming a workaholic absolute boss of a woman building corporate empires. Feminism isn’t sneering at women who love being stay-at-home moms with no career ambitions and it isn’t pitying single, child-free CEOs. Feminism is celebrating the CHOICE to CHOOSE whatever path a woman longs to pursue. That being said…”tradwife” is generally derogatory and what doesn’t help these tradwives is when some of them take on an air of superiority over women who don’t or “can’t” do everything they do. (I used quotes around “can’t” because they tend to see real obstacles as excuses and laziness even though it’s often proved these women pulling off miracle homemaking are wealthy beyond belief and thus setting and encouraging unrealistic standards for the average wife or mother just trying to do her best).
Meet Natalie Heller Mills.
She is an example of why “tradwife” is used derogatorily. To an extreme.
At first I went into this book wondering if it might be funny, then as it started to become clear it probably wouldn’t and I finally stopped hoping I was wrong/waiting for a comical turn my attention grew fixed on the main character with her strict Mormon vibes and distaste for the world outside of her restrictive upbringing and views and my attention, while captivated, was not one of a positive opinion. Eventually I realized she was unchangeably awful, unlikeable, and I couldn’t stand her even if there were small flickers in her situation that sparked pity (really I struggled a bit at the beginning of this book because everyone seemed unlikeable in some way or another)…BUT she was ambitious and determined as Hell and that held my attention (that and the inexplicable interspersed scenes of her waking up on a legit pioneer homestead and needing answers lol because what??). Once you realize just how much you don’t like Natalie you’ll start to get distracted and even invested in how things escalate, how her plans evolve, how her empire thrives, …how things start to get downright uncomfortable. Buckle up because when the shoe drops and the interview goes live things spiral so fast it becomes impossible to look away from it all and the story will drop you at the end with nothing but WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED. I can’t even begin to tell you how wild things get without spoiling something!!
There’s so much to dig into with this book! Womanhood, manhood, motherhood, fatherhood, traditions, religion, wealth, power, education, gender roles, social media, influencers, biology, psychology, AND SO MUCH MORE. There really is a lot which again is why I think this would make a great book club pick, but I’m not going to get into all of that here and now. Maybe after I get to discuss with some fellow readers and friends I might revisit this review and make some additions, but for now I’m leaving it focused on the driving wheel that is Natalie (though she is certainly not the sole villain of this story, she’s just the main victim-villain the story is focused on).
There’s her strict religious upbringing, there’s her first foray into the modern woman world, there’s her female obedience: marriage and babies, and then there’s disappointment. So much potential and disappointment it will spark a hate-filled determination that will grip the world by the reins and destroy lives in ways you’ll never see coming. (And yet I bet some people got some nice recipes out of it at least? Is that maybe the only silver lining? Maybe? Lol).
If you’re looking for a psychological thriller with a slow creeping build and a lightning speed crash and burn with a modern day commentary then you have got to read this book. Also I need my irl friends to read this book so we can stare at each other wide-eyed then start dissecting the tale of Natalie Heller Mills & co.
Cheers.
P.S. I heard this book is set to become a movie! After reading the book I’m not sure I want to watch it played out on the screen lol but I also don’t think I could resist. It’s not a cult story…but it has that level of crazy vibes.
Meet Caro Claire Burke!
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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