โYesteryear,โ Caro Claire Burkeโs debut novel, tells the story of Natalie Heller Mills: an ultrasuccessful tradwife influencer who posts about her life on Yesteryear Ranch, a homestead where she grows her own food, tends to cows and chickens, raises her six children and models a particular brand of conservative Christian womanhood. But not all is as it seems. Behind the cameras, nannies care for the children, Natalie shops for the types of groceries she decries online, she detests her husband with his manosphere beliefs, and sheโs on the cusp of being exposed by a rogue video producer. One day she wakes up and discovers she has been transported to 1855, forced to live the pioneer persona she has been performing online. How did she get there? How can she escape? And what does her misery mean about the lifestyle she has embraced for profit? "Yesteryear" was met with fanfare after it was published in April. Even before the book was released, it was scooped up for a film adaptation that Anne Hathaway is set to star in and produce. The novel was selected as a โGood Morning Americaโ Book Club pick; Burke appeared on โLate Night With Seth Meyersโ; and the book has spent more than a month on The Timesโs best-seller list. Everyone, it seems, is talking about โYesteryear.โ But does it live up to the hype? On this episode of the Book Review Book Club, the host MJ Franklin discusses the book with his colleagues Jennifer Harlan and Joumana Khatib. Other books mentioned in this episode: โRunning Out of Time,โ by Margaret Peterson Haddix โGone Girl,โ by Gillian Flynn โThe Power,โ by Naomi Alderman โEileen,โ by Ottessa Moshfegh โThe Compound,โ by Aisling Rawle โHot Girls With Balls,โ by Benedict Nguyen โJust Watch Me,โ by Lior Torenberg โA Good Person,โ by Kirsten King โThe Guest,โ by Emma Cline Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
