Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
“A debut novel to keep you guessing what’s real and what’s not until the very end…”
To the world, Natalie Heller Mills has it all in Caro Claire Burke‘s Yesteryear. She’s a traditional wife, living in a quaint farm with her cowboy husband named Caleb and bringing up a parade of children right in front of the ever-growing millions in her online audience. She’s an influencer through and through, with traditional family values that make her haters, the ones she affectionally refers to as the “Angry Women,” boost her videos every time they leave insulting comments or write scathing reviews. Despite all, eight million followers watch her and her family’s every move and enjoy the perfect life she’s projecting while living traditional values.
Appearances can be deceiving, though, and performing in front of an audience is still performing. When cameras are off, or pointing at a different angle, Natalie lives with all the luxuries the modern world has to offer, and her husband has hired help to run the farm, leaving him very little to do but enjoy himself until the time when his father, a big-time politician, deems Caleb ready for starting his own political career. However, there is the risk of potential legal trouble lurking in the backstage of the picture-perfect life.
A Life Turned Upside Down
Then, one day, Natalie wakes up to find herself in another place or time. No electricity, none of the modern appliances; the place is lit by a fire. Caleb looks somewhat different, and their kids are gone; in their place another set of children keep calling her “mama.” Adding insult to injury, they expect her to fetch water from the well, hand wash clothing and basically live the life as it was in the pioneer’s day at the end of the nineteenth century. And do it all with a smile on her face, as good women do.
Is it real? Is it a hoax? The reader is left to wonder if this is akin to the Outlander series or a retro version of the film Overboard. Striving to not spoil the plot, I’d just say it is none of the above; in fact, it is its very own thing altogether.
As we witness Natalie suffering with the chores she’s never done before, or is not ready for, we are also treated with alternate chapters depicting her early life, all the way through to the way they are now.
A Heroine You Love to Hate
Slowly but steadily, we are given a full picture of Natalie and her family. How her mother shaped her notion of what a woman and a traditional wife should be. How she struggles within a loveless marriage to keep appearances and how she is now being punished with life in the wild. But here’s the kicker: we’re not meant to root for her.
Natalie Heller Mills is conceited, selfish and a self-centered piece of work. She has joined the pantheon of characters we love to hate. She’s up there with the likes of Ignatius J. Reilly, Ebenezer Scrooge, Miranda Presley and Dolores Umbridge. In fact, every time it looks like she’s about to get her comeuppance, the reader gets stuck humming that tune from the Chicago musical, “She had it coming; she only had herself to blame.” Or perhaps it is just me.
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.
Publish Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Fiction, Thrillers
Author: Caro Claire Burke
Page Count: 592 pages
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 979-8217287857