Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke as recommended by Jennie Godfrey (author of The Barbecue at No.9 and The List of Suspicious Things)
As an author and a bookseller, I read a lot of books, and within a few pages of Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke, I knew I was reading a novel that has the potential to be huge. This is one of those stories that is both current and timeless, a rare combination, and when the opportunity came up to curate a selection for the Fresh Ink subscription box by Goldsboro Books, I knew immediately that Yesteryear would be my choice.
Yesteryear tells the story of Natalie Heller Mills, a so-called ‘trad wife’ whose marriage, children and home (the eponymous ‘Yesteryear Ranch’) are curated, then presented, for the consumption of her eight million followers on Instagram. One day, Natalie wakes up in the 1800’s, and soon realises she is living the very life she had been play-acting a poor imitation of, and it turns out that the reality is somewhat less than glamourous. How did she get here?
The novel answers that question on two fronts. Through scenes from Natalie’s past - her family of origin, her teenage years, her meeting her husband and his complex and powerful political family - we learn how Natalie came to be a homesteading mother on the internet. At the end, we find out how she came to find herself living the life of a real homesteader, two centuries ago. The result is a truly compulsive, layered read that I loved.
The novel delves into many of the preoccupations of current (western) culture – from our addiction to social media, the rise in misogyny and the trad wife phenomenon, political power in the US, and the radicalisation of the right via conspiracy – but it also touches on questions around authenticity and motherhood, meaning that this is the kind of novel that has you thinking about it long after reading.
This is true despite the fact that Burke doesn’t hand us any ‘likeable’ characters to get behind or root for (except perhaps the children). No-one comes off particularly well. and it is a testament to how well written it is that this doesn’t matter at all. What does matter however, is that at the heart of this story is a mystery (how did Natalie end up in the 1800’s?) and as a writer, I found myself desperate to know how on earth Burke was going to end the story in a plausible way. I’ll say nothing more except that I didn’t guess, but loved the ending, and the events that lead up to it stand up on their own as a compelling narrative as well. I cannot recommend it enough.
Yesteryear stands out among an already wonderful year of debuts (Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash, The Shock of the Light by Lori-Inglis Hall to name but two) and there are more set to come. In an increasingly challenging publishing landscape, this is one of the reasons a subscription service like Fresh Ink is so important as a change to spotlight and support new talent.
