Book review: Yesteryear

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

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I was extremely intrigued when I first heard the premise of Caro Claire Burke's debut novel - Yesteryear. The main character is a tradwife influencer, a phenomenon I am endlessly fascinated by. For anyone who doesn’t know a tradwife is a term mostly used to describe female influencers who make content surrounding their life as a traditional wife. It is a step further than just a stay-at-home mum. There is a focus on making everything (and I mean everything) from scratch, having lots of children and there is often a strong political undercurrent pushing conservative values. Many, (although not all; see Nara Smith) live in rural areas, in cottages or on farms. In recent years there has been a growing buzz and discourse around this idea of the tradwife which I have found fascinating. It is certainly a layered issue and I feel that anytime it becomes trendy to criticise certain groups of women’s lifestyles it can quickly slip into the realm of misogyny. I often feel uncomfortable when the discourse starts to sound like you are policing a woman’s choices because yes it is perfectly fine to prefer whole foods and making bread! On the other hand, the right wing politics that seems to come along with many tradwives’ content definitely needs to be addressed and recognised. The radicalisation pipeline from being into natural things to full blown conspiracy theory distrust of everything should not be ignored.

There is also something to be said about pushing traditional gender roles and how that can affect progress made by feminism. For example, it is widely discussed by Gen Z that the job market and work in general at the moment is a dystopian nightmare. As a result many young women assert that they would prefer to be a stay at home mum to avoid the pressures and constraints of working. This discourse is often picked up by trad wives as it fits into the wider politics of the nuclear family. I find this fascinating as on the one hand I quite agree that the thought of working 9-5 forever is really quite hellish whereas having the time to pursue hobbies and socialise seems dreamy. However, on the other hand, I think it would be a grave mistake to forget how hard women fought to have the right to work. That for so many women it offers financial freedom, independence, personal fulfilment among many other things. It seems like a dangerous narrative for tradwives to be blindly pushing the fact that all women should be in the home and mothering as many children as possible, as traditionally as possible. I really don’t have the right answer or even a fully formed opinion on the whole thing. There are just too many grey areas! I think however, that that brings me nicely along to why I enjoyed Yesteryear so much - the grey areas.

Yesteryear dives into the life of Natalie, a tradwife influencer who lives on a ranch called Yesteryear. he book takes on a dual timeline structure flicking between Natalie’s life from university to her establishing herself as an influencer and after she wakes up in the 19^th century. I really enjoyed seeing the facets of Natalie’s personality and story unfurl. I actually enjoyed that aspect more than the twisty turny plot! I found her character to be really complex and well written. Everything was laid so bare, the contradictions both objectively happening around Natalie and the contradictions happening within her psyche. I liked the fact that Caro didn’t make Natalie overly sympathetic or villainous. That is not to say I agreed with everything she said or did; she’s often unethical, savage, cruel and selfish. However, even when I didn’t agree with her choices or actions they all made sense as a result of her upbringing, political leanings and the pressures she was under. Both actual and perceived. That’s what makes a good character for me. You don’t need to understand them or even like them to be invested in the story!

One of my favourite aspects explored in Yesteryear was the relationship between Natalie and her mother and mother-in-law. The two older women are opposite in almost every way. One glamourous, one conservative. One passive and pill popping, one working morning to night. However, what they both specialise in and offer Natalie is a masterclass in keeping up appearances and a constant state of self surveillance. I found that part of the story so interesting as I feel like that really humanises Natalie and reinforces how women across the political spectrum and all of society really are under the same kind of pressures.

I’m sure this will not be the last tradwife novel we see published over the next few years, it seems like it could be a real life of literary inspiration with all its layers and nuances. That being said this definitely wasn’t the most nuanced book I’ve ever read but I think Caro Clarke really delivered on a page turner, with a complex main character, and a host of interesting side characters that touches on a lot of very relevant topics and themes. It was a really tense read I was so invested in everything!

Love, Grace xx