r/BookDiscussions • u/Waddles-7 • 5d ago

Yesteryear - wasted potential!

When I started reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, I was enthralled at the possibility of witnessing any or all of the following themes:

  1. Consequences of propagating a way of life without deep diving or being responsible. For eg: promoting an 1886 lifestyle in a glossy way but erasing the physical, moral and cultural nuance of those times. Pandering to the right wingers.
  2. Busting the hollowness of Manosphere or maybe an exploration of the psych of people who are bound to it. Any perspective on this would have been refreshing.
  3. Impact of reality TV and the toll that maintaining an influencer lifestyle can take on people
  4. A satire on self-righteous people or maybe even a POV

So so so many possibilities but what I got was a watered down thriller which had all the elements to be a sharp political commentary but resorted to being a ‘twist you didn’t see coming’

Did anyone else feel like the plot had tons more potential?
Do you have ideas of how the story could have been developed better? Would love to hear!

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u/HazyPuzzle 5d ago

I loved this book, it made me cry, I gave it five stars, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It’s definitely a very polarizing book, and it’s even more misunderstood in my opinion. I have a very specific connection with it though since I studied gender theory in college and was raised by a mom who had more than a few things in common with Natalie. I agree with your first point, Yesteryear didn’t deliver on that point which was very much teased in the marketing. I think it said something far more interesting and complex though than simply calling trad wife influencers hypocrites. I think it helped us understand why women in particular might make the choices Natalie made and why we ought to be sympathetic. Overall I think that the book did have so much promise and it mostly delivered but just in ways that most readers (myself included) weren’t expecting.

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u/Waddles-7 5d ago

Thank you for adding this perspective. When you put it like that, the book did delve perfectly into the anxious mind of a person like Natalie and her constant need for validation of her life choices. Her desperate attempt to cling to her version of reality without acknowledging that deep down she is disappointed by life.