Yesteryear by Caro Claire BurkeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I often find highly hyped books to be disappointing, so I was curious about but not expecting to like Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke. The main character, Natalie, a social media Christian tradwife influencer, was so unlikeable that I wasn’t sure I’d continue after the first couple of chapters. I’m glad I did, though.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, the premise is that Natalie – who was raised by a seemingly good Christian widowed mom, decides that rather than throw herself into unhappy corporate America, she’ll marry young and try to create the perfect family she didn’t have. With the help of a financial infusion from her political father-in-law, who aims to become the President someday, she builds out the fantasy tradwife life and starts popping babies. Instinctively more of an entrepreneur than a stay-at-home-mom, she soon hires staff to care for the children, the farm, the video production, and ultimately the product line, as her follower numbers skyrocket. But things go awry and she finds herself transported into a real 1850s homestead life.
I understand why the book has captured massive media interest – what’s not to love about exposing the hypocrisy of big-time tradwife influencers? – and why it has been controversial. It takes a lot of digs not only at social media, influencers, conspiracy theorists, and politicians, but also at religion and the extreme pressures on women who want to have both careers and families. Is it any wonder many are opting out, either of parenthood or of a career, when it seems financially and physically almost impossible to combine them while maintaining one’s sanity?
After reading the book I looked at a few tradwife accounts, and at the comments by what Natalie calls the “Angry Women”. One oft-repeated point is that you never see middle-aged tradwives. By the time they hit that stage they are typically either divorced, worn-out or both.
From a writing perspective, I’m impressed by how well the author managed to create an unlikeable protagonist. Admittedly, there were many times I felt the author went unbelievably far in Natalie’s extreme self-obsession and bitchiness. But the book kept me reading, and by the end of it one gets a deeper perspective on Natalie and how she interacted with the world.
Overall, I thought it was an excellent, thought-provoking book. But if I were a right-wing, anti-vax, stay-at-home mom of many, I’d likely have reacted differently. On the other hand, I probably wouldn’t have had time to read the book!
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