After waiting in a very long hold list for about three months, it was finally my turn to borrow my library’s copy of Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (the e-book version, of course, because I love my Kindle). I know I’m a little late to the game, as the book was released in April 2026, but Yesteryear is still all the rage, and after reading it, I understand why.
Burke’s first novel follows a “tradwife” influencer named Natalie, who lives on a farm with her husband and kids — a picture perfect life, or so she makes it seem on social media. In reality, Natalie is extremely unhappy and has been for a long time. After an incident with her social media producer, Natalie seemingly wakes up at Yesteryear Ranch with her same husband and kids — except she quickly realizes that what she wakes up to is not quite her husband, not quite her kids, and not quite her farm. Instead, there are no appliances, no technology, and it seems to be colonial times, just like the life she always fabricated online, right?
The novel alternates between telling the story that led up to Natalie’s modern-time life, and showing the way she navigates the colonial world she’s been transported into. The modern side of the story follows Natalie’s college experience at Harvard, how she met her husband, Caleb, and then dropped out of school when she got pregnant. She deals with her extreme right-wing politician father-in-law, her unambitious husband, and her drug-addicted mother-in-law until she decides to buy Yesteryear Ranch, where she discovers the internet.
The colonial world follows Natalie as a confused and paranoid mess. She believes that she has been kidnapped and taken into this world to live with an older-looking version of her husband, and kids who look like her and call her “Mama,” but who she does not know. “Old Caleb” and her eldest daughter Mary reprimand her confusion and paranoia, but Natalie knows that something has to be wrong, because this is not the perfect influencer life she went to sleep in just the other night.
I am not going to reveal too many spoilers about the novel, but instead, I want to explore the intention behind writing a character like Natalie. Though she is the main character, Natalie is extremely unlikable. She is a narcissist who thinks that she is perfect, and other women are jealous, miserable, and out to get her when, in reality, she is the one who is unhappy with her life. We see this as a pattern throughout the entire novel, as Natalie has obsessions with random people in her life who are “jealous of her.” She even calls her online haters “The Angry Women.”
Natalie is, for lack of better words, a complete sociopath (this is not a spoiler, as you can tell almost immediately). So, the question is, why is she somewhat relatable; why does the reader almost feel like they are rooting for her? Well, my assumption is that many readers feel this way because these people exist everywhere in real life: tradwives on social media whose lives look completely fabricated, who people online judge constantly.
However, Yesteryear is not a novel meant to judge and criticize that lifestyle. Instead, I believe that it is meant to bring awareness to the fact that things must be questioned, especially in this day and age. Most of what we see online is not real, and at the end of the day, it has nothing to do with us. We share our lives so openly on social media. Everyone — especially influencers — shares so many details about themselves that are only a tiny portion of what actually goes on in their lives. Social media is a big part of most American lives today, but Yesteryear can absolutely serve as a reminder that inauthenticity and the fabrication of someone’s life and personality can truly drive them crazy.
Natalie is an example of someone who constantly criticises others, criticizes herself, and compares herself to others, both in person and on the internet. Natalie is an example of a closed-minded person who shuts out any new ideas. She is an example of someone who never questions what she is “supposed to do” and ends up extremely unhappy because of it. Natalie and Yesteryear might just serve as a warning about what happens when people rely completely on social media presence and societal expectations without any question.