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Yesteryear

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Yesteryear

By: Caro Claire Burke
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
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THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

'EVERYONE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS BOOK’ – BELLA MACKIE

'NIGHTMARISH, SHOCKING, BRILLIANT’ – STYLIST

'MADDENING, MESMERISING, INGENIOUS’ – NEW YORK TIMES

'INTELLIGENT, INCISIVE, INSANELY READABLE’ – JENNIE GODFREY

'DERANGED, DARING, CLEVERLY WRITTEN’ – VOGUE

'My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive…'

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them.

Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.

As darkly funny as it is shocking and gripping, Yesteryear is an electrifying examination of tradition, fame, faith and the grand performance of womanhood, from a thrilling new talent in fiction.

NOW BEING ADAPTED INTO A MAJOR FILM STARRING ANNE HATHAWAY

‘WICKEDLY FUNNY, FRIGHTENINGLY PERCEPTIVE' ABIGAIL DEAN

'INVENTIVE, ADDICTIVE, A WILD RIDE' ASHLEY AUDRAIN

'SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR, LACED WITH DARKNESS' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'THE STEPFORD WIVES MEETS THE HANDMAID'S TALE' HANNAH DEITCH

©2026 Caro Claire Burke (P)2026 Penguin Random House LLC Domestic Thrillers Editors Select Family Life Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Satire Thriller & Suspense Women's Fiction Marriage Exciting Funny Ranch
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Critic reviews

'Everyone will be talking about this book' Bella Mackie
'Daring, deranged, cleverly written' Vogue
'Maddening and mesmerizing. The premise is an ingenious, exquisite, be-careful-what-you-wish-for. Draws to a dizzying conclusion, I didn’t see the twist coming' New York Times
'Tense, intriguing, funny and conversation-starting' Sunday Times Culture
‘Intelligent, incisive and insanely readable’ Jennie Godfrey
‘Perceptive, timely, exquisitely written. An outstanding and utterly unique take on how we live today’ Joanna Cannon
‘An absolutely unhinged novel’ Roxane Gay
'Witty and thought-provoking, this is the book that will be everywhere' Independent
'A piece of howling feminist rage. Nightmarish, shocking, brilliant' Stylist
'A bold and biting satire, will have you gasping right to the final page' Nita Prose
'Highly original and utterly addictive' Louise O'Neill
‘Unapologetically political fiction in the tradition of The Stepford Wives or The Handmaid’s Tale. Enraging, thrilling – grimly funny but intensely humane’ Hannah Deitch
‘Wickedly funny, beautifully written, and frighteningly perceptive.’ Abigail Dean
‘Inventive, addictive and funny. A dark, biting social commentary and a wild, thought-provoking ride’ Ashley Audrain
‘Shot through with humour and laced with darkness’ Clare Mackintosh
‘Insanely good, fresh, sharp and spiky. It reminded me of Gone Girl, with its unreliable, intensely unlikeable narrator, amazing twist and needlepoint observations’ Stacey Halls
‘Deliciously topical, with a chef’s kiss of a twist’ Pandora Sykes
'Original, biting, propulsive and unhinged' Red
'Funny, terrifying and original' Woman & Home
'Crazy and completely addictive' Prima
'Mind-bending, propulsive, thought-provoking' Good Housekeeping
'A dark comedy and a delicious satire that will keep you guessing' Heat
‘Unpredictable, original and beautifully written. I couldn’t guess the genius ending’ Adele Parks
'An intoxicating fever dream through the lens of a thrillingly complex protagonist.' Hannah Beer
All stars
Most relevant
This is a wow book. The narrator really adds to the nuance of the story. You will definitely see this on many future book club lists but I think the story will appeal to non readers also!

Fast paced & memorable

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Loved this modern day dystopia! The chokehold that social media has on so many of us is represented with such terrifying realism and the consequences are played out in this book so well. The narration was perfectly matched to the tone of the novel too! Wish I could listen again for the first time!

Terrifyingly real

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This has potential to be a probing novel into the complexities of performative behaviours in the digital world. The protagonist, sadly, is deeply unlikeable and her children are one-dimensional until the end. The constant references to the patriarchy and manosphere promised an exploration into the psychology of masculine vs feminine behaviours and the novel does achieve this in part -- the emasculated yoga loving husband becomes as enamoured with manospheric conspiracy theories as the protagonist's "followers" are with her sourdough -- but the complexity of the juxtaposition is just not there. There is an interesting plot development towards the final quarter of the story but it is just too unrealistic given the more realistic discourse throughout the earlier strands of the plot. The mental illness the protagonist is professed to possess towards the end is inconsistent with her narrative style at earlier points of the novel; this could have been rectified with more frequent sprinkles of foreshadowing earlier on. The author does well to capture online "voices" and this part is executed very competently. The concept is excellent and the description of the setting is perfect -- you can imagine yourself at Yesteryear.

Good concept; falls short in execution.

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Yesteryears was an interesting and thought‑provoking read, even though I didn’t particularly like or feel much empathy for any of the characters. In fact, the emotional distance I felt from them seems intentional, and it forced me to engage with the story on a more analytical level rather than an emotional one.

What ultimately made the novel work for me was the ending. It tied the narrative threads together and gave meaning to much of what had come before, prompting me to re-evaluate both the characters and the choices they made. Without giving anything away, the conclusion reframes the story in a way that lingers, and it stayed with me long after I finished the book.

As a reader who is not from the United States, I found the book’s strong focus on traditional values particularly fascinating. These values are portrayed with an intensity and centrality that I don’t often see in my own country, even though echoes of them certainly exist.

I found myself thinking about the storyline repeatedly after finishing the book, especially about what message it might be conveying beneath the surface. Rather than offering clear answers, Yesteryears seems to invite the reader to reflect on nostalgia, morality, and the ways in which the past is idealized or distorted through personal and collective memory. Whether one agrees with its underlying perspective or not, it is a book that encourages reflection, and that, for me, is one of its strongest qualities.

A Story That Lingers Beyond Its Characters

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Didn't know what to expect, not my usual listen, but I loved it. Never sure where it was going, but I couldn't help listening, showed the perils of listening to only one world view and how easy it is to slip from sanity to the other side, it's a social commentary on the state of the United States and a warning to about the seduction of social media in general

When social media, becomes anti social.

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