The #1 Sunday Times bestseller. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Anne Hathaway. A darkly funny, electrifying debut about a tradwife influencer who wakes up in the past she's been romanticising — and discovers the brutal reality behind the filter.
Natalie Heller Mills has eight million followers, five (soon to be six) children, a cowboy husband, an Idaho ranch, and an Instagram feed that drinks raw milk and bakes sourdough by golden hour. She is, in her own words, "perfect at being alive."
Then one morning, she wakes up cold, filthy, and terrified — in the actual nineteenth century. No phone. No nannies. No camera. Just the pioneer life she has spent years selling to her followers, and absolutely no idea how she got there.
Is it a hoax? A twisted reality show? A psychotic break? Or has Natalie's curated fantasy somehow swallowed her whole?
Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed satire of tradwife culture, performance, faith, fame, and the grand lie of modern womanhood — told as a propulsive, page-turning thriller. It is one of the most-talked-about debuts of 2026.
Praise
“Perfect wife, perfect life? Think again. A bold and biting satire … page-turning and illuminating, this caustic look at the tradwife will have you cackling and gasping right to the final page.”
— Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid
“Shot through with humour and yet laced with darkness, Yesteryear had me turning the pages late into the night.”
— Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go
Acclaim
- #1 Sunday Times bestseller
- Film adaptation in development starring Anne Hathaway
- Acquired by Fourth Estate in an 11-way auction
- Rights sold in 10+ international territories
- One of the most-anticipated and most-discussed debuts of 2026
About the author
Caro Claire Burke received her Master's in Fine Arts from the Bennington Writing Seminars. A writer and social media commentator, her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Marie Claire, and Bustle. She is the co-host of the politics and culture podcast Diabolical Lies, runs the popular short fiction project Cover Stories on Instagram and Substack, and has a large online following for her work on social media trends and cultural moments. Yesteryear is her first novel.
Perfect for readers of
Delphine de Vigan's Kids Run the Show, Naoise Dolan, Coco Mellors's Cleopatra and Frankenstein, Kiley Reid, and anyone hooked on the cultural reckoning with tradwives, influencer culture, and the high cost of perfect-looking lives.
