Yesteryear: A GMA Book Club Pick

A Novel

De: Caro Claire Burke

Narrado por: Rebecca Lowman

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR (SO FAR) • A traditional American woman, a “tradwife” influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855—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.

"A bold and biting satire, Yesteryear…will have you cackling and gasping right to the final page."
—Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid series

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 heir to a political dynasty? 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 ruthless 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.

Bleh

I preordered this book. The concept is interesting. But the reality of the book is annoying. Instead of exploring the disconnect between modern social media oriented “homesteaders” and actual homesteading history, the book focuses on the disdainful internal conflict of the main character, rehashing and rehashing. Internal conflict should be interesting, but this isn’t. She hates the life she chose, hates the life she didn’t choose, hates the people she chose to live with, hates the people who hate her, hates the people who chose another life. Right up to the epilogue I hoped for more insight but there was none. Bummer! I hope another book comes along to tackle this topic in a more rigorous way.

How did I Stay with it?

There were no redeeming qualities to the characters. You hated all of them. It was depressing to hang out with them

Finally! Exactly what I was craving in my next listen

I started several other stories looking for an interesting social media vs reality take, but dnf most. I didn't want this one to end- perfect narration, a dystopian feel and kept me wondering what was reality.

Mind Blown

Admittedly, I moved through most of this book kind of half-listening.. it was good but I kept wondering: where could this possibly go? How is this going to make sense?
Well, it doesn’t have to.. mind blown at the end and it makes me want to listen all over with this new perspective.

I’m might be in the minority with this…

Overall the story was fine. The big reveal at the end wasn’t surprising or astonishing. Many clues along the way were given to predict the outcome.