Yesteryear

Yesteryear ist ein Buch, das man so schnell nicht vergisst. Der Schreibstil ist unglaublich flüssig, man fliegt förmlich durch die Seiten, und doch ist es absolut anders als alles, was ich bisher gelesen habe. Die Geschichte hat etwas Einzigartiges an sich – sie überrascht, fesselt und bleibt lange im Kopf. Ich möchte nicht zu viel verraten, um niemandem den besonderen Effekt zu nehmen, aber eins kann ich sagen: Es ist genial. Wer Lust auf ein Buch abseits des Gewohnten hat, sollte Yesteryear auf jeden Fall eine Chance geben.

Natalie lives the picture perfect life. A husband who adores her, a gaggle of kids she loves, a successful farm, and thousands of followers online who admire her. If she tries hard enough, she can almost convince herself that it’s all real. But behind the carefully placed camera and lights Natalie is just a person trying hard to fit standards set for her by Him; or rather, her religious upbringing. Despite being an atheist myself, I was happy to learn that the book is not an unserious bashing of religion or a gratutious ’I told you so‘ about tradwives. It is rather a serious dissection of American Christian Fundamentalism and how it intersects with American founding myths and the country’s current politics. Burke never pins down which denomination of Fundamentalism either and so the Mills’ religious convictions about gender and traditional family dynamics are as generic as their rustic chic kitchen. My main critique is that at first I was a little disappointed with the time jump storyline . The shock Natalie was supposed to be feeling didn’t register to me at all and the uncanny atmosphere I had expected never transpired. And to be fair, from the blurb I had expected something very different. I understand that it was necessary for the plot twist to work, but still, maybe some changes to either the structure of the plot or the blurb could’ve been made I’m also not quite sure how I feel about the fact that I can pick out the two main inspirations for Natalie Heller Mills and her family. Both are Mormon influencers, namely Ballerina Farm and 8Passengers. The latter had made big headlines some years ago after child abuse was uncovered and the mother sentenced to prison. The eldest daughter, Shari Franke, advocates for stricter child protection laws against online expoitation and published a memoir titled ’The House of my Mother’. A work I find resonates very well with ’Yesteryear’.

4.5 - I listened to the audiobook for this one so please bear with me. - OH MY GOD this was such a wild run and it has been so long since I read a fiction book and actually enjoyed it from start till the end. I really liked the journey with how it jumped from the past to the present so you also figured things out as Natalie did and I must say I didn't see the ending coming. (at least the most of it). Natalie is a character that is written to be insufferable so yes if you didn't like her you got the point. If there was anyone who was more insufferable than Natalie it was definitely the ignorant husband Caleb although as the storyline goes on, you start to understand why he is the way he is. Actually, the only predator in this story was the social and religious norms that were forced onto both of the MC's so you are kinda left blaming those rather than the characters. I really liked how the story turned out to be. You are left feeling sad, shocked and glad at the same time. Natalies inner demons fighting each other but her giving in as the story goes along was so interesting to read, I hope that there will be a movie adaptation! <3

I just don’t get the hype. Don’t get me wrong – it was a solid book, with an insufferable maincharacter – but then again she isn’t supposed to be likeable. The only thing you get for roughly 400 pages, is a women who absolutely hates her life, but doesn’t want to change anything. The positive side: I read through this quickly, but i really didn’t enjoy it.

When I heard about a book featuring a traditional wife who is sent back to the 19th century, I was hooked. However, maybe my expectations were too high. Natalie is a Christian who adheres to "traditional Christian values" (meaning no divorce, no therapy, and that a woman's body is only for bearing children, etc.), and she marries a man she herself describes as stupid - she hates him and her children. She builds an Instagram empire that crumbles after she assaults her producer for sleeping with her husband. The constant switching between the 19th century and Natalie's real past frustrated me because I became invested in one time period and then became frustrated with the other. For this reason, I would give the book one star, but I am also giving it another star because I think it's admirable to create such an unlikeable character and still make me finish the book. The ending and the reveal of the 19th century illusion left me feeling quite unsatisfied. While it does make sense given the warped mindset of Natalie and her husband, I can think of at least five endings that would make even more sense given Natalie's character. But kudos to Clementine for saving the kids and partly her mother.