'Yesteryear' Will Make You Blame Natalie For EVERYTHING

Would this be accurate though?

It takes a Herculean effort to write a book review for Yesteryear, because there is so much to tell and one must be creative to not spoil the story, while explaining the genius of this work. Which means the author really had to do some heavy lifting with her pen in order to create a work that doubles as social commentary and horror.

I’m still on the fence about the horror bit.

‘Yesteryear’ is the story of Natalie Heller Mills. A “trad wife” and proud of it. She has built a whole social media following of people who love to watch her farm life, she has 5.5 kids, and her “cowboy husband Caleb. The kind of America she caters to is the America of Nostalgia. Of “Making America Great Again”— and she is the face of it. Who cares about that Liberal Woman crap? Who cares about modernity? Natalie’s success was steadily climbing…

Until one day she wakes up in the year 1855.

Things don’t get much more traditional than that.

Or more terrifying than that.

The meteoric rise of Natalie

The format of this book reminds of me Superfan: it is riddled with flashbacks. Unlike Superfan though, Burke’s novel is told from one main point of view—Natalie’s. Plus the flashbacks build up to an eerie rhythm that finally drops us off into some Alice in Wonderland type of funk. The entire time, you wonder where this “ride” will lead you, as the reader. The novel is designed to keep you strapped in. Locked in. Because how the heck did Natalie get here?

Here’s the crazy part—I didn’t care too much about Natalie.

Sometimes we get hung up on sympathy for a character because they spoke to us first.

The book is completely told in first-person point of view, but as you read, you quickly realize Natalie is not a very nice person. To be fair, Natalie comes off as confused.

Traditional, but she went to a prestigious college for a degree.(Not to say that homemakers cannot get degrees. This is simply how Natalie thinks and why she thinks it)

Traditional, but built a million-dollar social media business.

Traditional, but feels awful living in 1855.

Like I said.

Confused.

“Um…Mrs. Natalie Mills. If you are so gung-ho over being a trad wife, then why are you upset at your status quo now? Why belittle the Angry Women in your comments while treating your husband, not as the head of the household, but like a pet project?”

Confused.

I could see what the author was saying without saying it.

Women in America…or anywhere

Women are required to wear many hats. While some actually prefer the traditional life where they can be home and not work outside of it, they are also reminded to work harder than the men by rising early to cook meals. Nurture and care for the children from sun up to sun down and some men today are even looking at women’s credit scores to determine if they are wife material, while still begging women to be high earners and “partners” for the 50/50 goal.

This leaves the women feeling overworked, beyond tired, “manish”, unhealthy, and burnt out.

In some cases, the woman becomes mentally ill because she has to “splice” her life into cook, maid, sex kitten, and mother.

Not even in that order.

So although Natalie(and many other characters) did not earn my sympathy, I can certainly understand what her world prioritizes and why she (and us) fall in alignment with said order.

The book itself received widespread praises, along with some criticisms. Some reviewers feel that the book could have been better if Natalie wasn’t so…Natalie. But honestly, that is what makes the book hard to put down. Natalie is not a nice person, I mean Geez! The way she treats her sister , her children ,and husband should be studied. However, this tension we feel about Natalie creates an earthquake in us because we now must ask ourselves:

Are we Natalie?

How do we feel about liberated women? Traditional wives? Women who opt out of having children?

How do we feel about people with different political affiliations? What do we say behind closed doors about them?

Social media did it

In the novel, before Natalie’s platform blew up into six figures, her husband who was a part of several oddball groups online, connected her to a super popular social media figure who believes in birthing a white nation again to make America “pure” again— and Natalie is just the woman to do it.

She did it.

And her social media following grew like wildfire.

But even that fame couldn’t stop what happened.

As we follow her to 1855, we realize her children and husband are different in this older world.

They are hers, but not hers. She loves them.

She hates them.

I like how Burke touches on the complex feelings mothers have for their daughters and vice versa.

Funny, because I am not close with my own mother—never have been. I envy those who have good mothers. Mine is not necessarily evil and she is not a narcissist(at least I don’t think so), but we are certainly not close.

I don’t have children so subconsciously maybe I don’t want to be a mother, thus preventing me from having them in the first place?

Our society makes women feel bad if they opt out of giving birth.

We make them feel bad if they give birth too much.

Or if they make earn too little. Or too much money.

Remember THIS celebrity’s downfall?

Reading this novel reminded me of Wendy Williams too.

Remember her?

She wasn’t a trad wife. She was a Gossip Mogul. Started at a radio station and became a huge household name, coining the phrase “How you doowin’?” A phrase still used today.

Then, her mind cracked.

We watched her fall from grace literally on her own show.

Her husband was caught with a much younger woman.

Wendy could not be trusted with her own money, wearing odd clothing and looking “out of it”.

The last time Wendy Williams was spotted was at New York’s Fashion Week in 2025 with her legal guardian. This is six years after we learned of her battle with Graves’ disease.

Her story does not mimic Natalie’s perfectly, but the meteoric rise of fame and the downfall to utter embarassment is similar.

Why Yesteryear is truly horrific

The horror of Yesteryear is centered on the how and the what.

We are concerned about HOW exactly Natalie ended up there.

We are concerned with all she must put up with now. Washing clothes by hand whether it is cold outside or not. Not getting proper medical care when she was injured. At least two of her children absolutely loathe her.

Let’s talk about her husband.

The dolt who just follows in Natalie’s shadow. The “man” whose own parents don’t have faith in him.

He is different in 1855.

He is colder. Calculating.

And is better in bed than the old Caleb(?) Trust me, this is strange in the book because it is not about lovemaking skills. It is the purpose behind it. There is a certain cruelty to this version of Natalie’s experience.

To be frank, I can’t call what he does, “making love”. He makes something but it ain’t love.

A cruelty that bleeds upon the page and leaves your mind sticky with doubt and justifiable anger at the entire situation.

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This book was recommended to me by a follower on Medium who read my reviews on Suburban horror like Stepford Wives and Vivarium.

She said I would love this one.

She was right.

I loved this book and what it made me think about.

Going forward, I think I’ll read whatever this author writes.

Who should read this book? Genre fiction lovers, Women's Fiction, Suburban Horror, Time Travel, Satire, Social Commentary

Rating: 5/5 Stars.

Erica writes about the myths we are sold about work, success, and survival- and what's really behind them. She believes writing and literature are medicine and the cure. Sign up for more pieces like this, delivered fresh to your inbox.