We are reading the book Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. It is a psychological thriller and social satire that explores the curated world of influencer culture.
The story follows Natalie Heller Mills, a successful Christian “tradwife” influencer who has built a lucrative brand on a romanticized vision of domestic, pastoral life. After her world is upended by a public scandal, Natalie inexplicably wakes up in the year 1855, where she is held captive by a brutal, archaic version of her own family and forced to confront the harsh reality of the pioneer life she once sold as an aesthetic.
The novel explores themes including The Distance Between Online Identity and Lived Reality, Domestic Labor as a Form of Gendered Subjugation, and The Irony of Nostalgia for a Brutal Past.
It is slated to be made into a movie where Anne Hathaway will play the role of Natalie Heller Mills and will serve as the producer.
The library waitlist is long. If anyone wants to read it, I will be happy to loan you my copy. Join us for a good discussion. See you there.
