Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Read this if you… want a fictional, yet real-feeling, story of faith, reality, and the power of choice.

Why does this beguile? “Holy moly wow” were the words I used to describe this book. It’s currently making its rounds as one of THE books of 2026 - and for good reason. Yesteryear is a fantastic dark satire about today’s world of parenting, social media, and curation. People seem to be polarized by this book and I understand why. Those who are the most aggrieved by this book are likely the ones who need to read it the most.

What it's about: Yesteryear follows Natalie, a tradwife in present-day Idaho with eight million followers who love her sourdough bread baking videos, her adorable six children, and her handsome cowboy husband who’s heir to a political powerhouse. Her life is utterly perfect and curated. One morning, after a stressful day, Natalie wakes up in 1855. She must figure out if this is somehow real (time travel?), an elaborate hoax perpetrated by some unknown enemy, or something else entirely.