This best seller seemed just right for me (read this from the book publicity):
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them.
Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn’t her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.
And then there was this review:
A bold and biting satire, Yesteryear…will have you cackling and gasping right to the final page.”
—Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author
When the publisher sent me an early digital copy, I excitedly dove in…and immediately had a bad feeling…unlike a book tingle, Yesteryear gave me a headache from the start.
The brilliant premise is introducing Natalie, a traditional stay-at-home wife, who revels in the domesticity of child rearing, cleaning, and cooking, all the while playing it up for the cameras of her social media account. Behind the scenes, she has nannies (yes plural), all the latest appliances, and an assistant to help her stage her in life in front of the camera. Then one day, she actually wakes up in the 1800s — much to her consternation and our amusement. Now wouldn’t that have been an interesting story?
But instead, the reader gets something completely different.
Natalie is horrible – there I’ve said it — she hates being a mother, but keeps having more kids. She hates farming, but insists on living on a farm. She doesn’t like her husband, but lectures her sister for divorcing. And through it all, she documents every step for social media just so she can keep pretending some more.
There have been many novels with bitchy, dis-likable main leads, but there is always a redeeming shred of humanity somewhere. Not in this case.
Ms. Burke gives Natalie a constant, internal dialogue of hate towards just about everyone who isn’t her, which became painful to read. She views herself as a victim with no choices, even though every decision is always hers.
I understand this is supposed to be satire, but for me, it really missed the mark. The novel felt unnecessarily mean-spirited towards the traditional wife role. While it’s not a path I would have chose – it seems cruel to make fun of the life choice and the character in this way. Or, perhaps I don’t possess the right kind of humor.
I stuck in there until Natalie wakes up in the 1800’s thinking the plot would take a turn and she would have to learn to survive and cope – becoming kinder and more grounded. But no, Natalie becomes even more unhinged and it turns dark…as she becomes angry and paranoid – believing she is being studied and watched — (think The Truman Show). And that’s where I quit.
I am undoubtedly just about the only reader who didn’t like Yesteryear – read the wildly popular reviews – and don’t let me dissuade you from giving it a try.
I’m in the minority,
