Review

Natalie Heller Mills is a beautiful, disciplined, successful Christian tradwife influencer, who lives on a large, secluded farm called Yesteryear Ranch, with her handsome rancher husband, five gorgeous, homeschooled children (#6 on the way), and old fashioned cooking & baking… plus, unseen by cameras, two nannies, a producer and lots of farm hands. The book opens on a life that seems to be going perfectly to Natalie’s plan, but cracks soon appear. Natalie’s marriage is far from ideal; her oldest daughter is beginning to rebel against her role as camera fodder; her producer is unhappy. And one day, Natalie wakes up in a Yesteryear that’s the same, but different – no central heating, no electricity, no internet, no cashmere sweaters, no nannies – the date scratched on the doorframe is 1855, and life is dramatically less picturesque…

*

This book is a page turner. I was absorbed by the gender politics and the mystery of Natalie’s time slip. The narrative is mostly in first person from Natalie’s perspective, moving around in time a fair bit with lots of flashbacks to Natalie’s earlier life, explaining how she became. who she is and gradually filling in characters and motivations. I did find the end unsatisfying and rushed – I felt it could have been more powerful if the author had made different choices.

Burke explores a lot of hot contemporary topics, including the power and selectivity of social media, created identity, the complexities of gender identity & feminism, Christian nationalism and the manosphere. Natalie’s father is a wealthy and popular MAGA-like senator making a run for president. It’s obvious why this novel is such a runaway best seller and the film rights have been snapped up by Anne Hathaway.

400 pp. Senior fiction only, Year 10 & up.

> Click here for content info – minor spoilers

Some sexual content, brief, not graphic or titillating; possible sexual assault; child abuse (of the psychological kind); husband hits wife; injury requires stitches without professional medical care; infidelity; possible #metoo (unclear); infrequent profanity, including f-word and c-word used in anger on several occasions; post-partum depression; mental illness; minor character addicted to prescription drugs.

*

Burke, C. C. (2026). Yesteryear. HarperCollins.

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