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Book Review: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Published on 1st September 2026 | Updated on 7th August 2026

Yesteryear Book Review

If you’re looking for a book to get you out of a reading slump, Yesteryear is the book for you! This was my first book by Caro Claire Burke, and to say it was a rollercoaster of a read would be an absolute understatement!

Yesteryear is not the kind of book I would typically pick up, however after seeing it all over bookstagram, I was getting major fomo seeing everyone’s shocked reactions and so I decided to request it from the library. So without any more rambling, let’s dive into one of the biggest books of 2026 and my honest thoughts!

Plot

Yesteryear follows Natalie, a young modern “tradwife” influencer whose carefully curated online persona is spectacularly shattered when she mysteriously wakes up in 1855. As she is forced to endure the brutal reality of the lifestyle she promotes on Instagram, she desperately seeks answers to the most probing of questions: how and why she got there, and how she can escape.

Characters

Natalie is the novel’s main protagonist. She is a highly unlikable character with an incredibly chaotic yet fascinating inner world. Natalie runs the Yesteryear ranch and works to maintain the image of a perfect Christian woman to her millions of followers.

Caleb is Natalie’s husband. He becomes a central character as the story progresses. Caleb uses authoritarian control to maintain the family’s image and reputation.

Clementine is Natalie and Caleb’s oldest daughter, she is intelligent and observant, and begins to challenge her parents views as she gets older. The couple have 8 other children, Samuel, Stetson, Jessa, June Bug, Mary, Maeve, Abel and Noah, who all play an important role in the unravelling of Natalie’s carefully constructed life. Mary in particular becomes a key character toward the end of the novel.

Shannon, a young liberal who works as a social-media producer, helping Natalie to create engaging online content. Shannon represents the type of woman Natalie hates, and causes major tension within the family home.

Doug and Amelia Mills are Caleb’s parents. Doug is a U.S. senator who holds significant power and authority over the entire family. Doug is an important character because his views represent the overall political themes of the book.

Eliza Heller is Natalie’s mother. Though Eliza is a Christian woman, her views are more progressive than Natalie’s. The two share a complicated relationship, and Eliza is critical of her daughter for much of the novel.

Abigail is Natalie’s older sister, who eventually leaves her abusive marriage and rebuilds her life, much to Natalie’s dismay.

Reena Magliotti is Natalie’s former roommate from Harvard University.

Nanny Louise and Nanny Amy, who help care for Natalie’s children.

Writing Style

I personally enjoyed the novel’s fast-paced writing style, with short chapters and an alternating timeline allowing the plot to move along quickly. However, I was not a fan of some of the book’s structural elements, for example the interruptions felt irritating at times, and I found the dialogue in many of the interviews to be quite unrealistic.

I think it’s important to note that for most of the novel you are essentially trapped inside Natalie’s head, which may feel suffocating to some readers who don’t find humour in her judgemental and cynical nature. Many readers will also find Natalie’s lack of character development (although that is kind of the point) frustrating.

Themes

Yesteryear contains a number of interesting themes that initially drew me to the book. The main topics covered include social media, motherhood, religion and feminism. I particularly enjoyed the focus on the performance of identity, and I constantly found myself drawing comparisons between Natalie’s online portrayal of domestic bliss vs the actual realities of motherhood, marriage, and social media fame.

Strengths and weaknesses

What the novel does particularly well is use a time-travel plot to keep readers engaged, and the mystery surrounding Natalie’s 1855 life is what propels the story forward. Additionally, I think the author did an amazing job at encouraging readers to question a number of different aspects of the novel. Caro successfully raises many interesting questions throughout, including:

• Was the past really better than the present?
• How genuine was Natalie’s identity?
• What does true freedom look like?

In terms of weaknesses, I think the overall message of the book was overshadowed by Natalie’s mental illness. The book also lost me slightly in the middle, as the mystery felt like it was dragging on and should have already reached its conclusion.

I also think it would’ve been interesting to have a few chapters from Caleb’s point of view, not to mention that this would have provided readers with a welcome break from Natalie’s intense inner monologue.

Overall opinion

I found the premise of Yesteryear, as well as its social commentary, completely fascinating. I do think that this a book that will divide opinion, but I personally thought it was a fantastic read filled with a number of interesting characters and themes to dissect. The ending of the novel was my favourite part, and really made me reflect on what it means, especially as a woman, to be truly “free”.

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