Yesteryear
By Caro Claire Burke ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10 ""When they talked about stay-at-home-mothers- specifically about their stay-at-home-mothers their eyes didn't go misty with gratitude. Instead, they argued bravely that old-school femininity was a..."
By Caro Claire Burke
★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
391 pages
What’s it about?
Natalie Heller Mills is a young married woman with a small child who turns to social media as a career. As an influencer, she can live the life she chooses and keep her family afloat. She portrays herself as a traditional wife and mother living on a large ranch with pioneer aspirations. Her followers love her, and she ignores those "angry women" who feel she is anti-feminist. But one morning she wakes up, and she isn't faking the pioneer life- she is living it. What gives?
What did it make me think about?
Women and all the hard choices they must make- especially young women.
Should I read it?
Well, I was intrigued by this novel. My older reader friends weren't big fans of this book. But my younger friends seemed to love it. I read it to see why different generations viewed it differently. For my regular review, I thought this was a page-turner, with less emphasis on character development. This may be why older viewers liked it less. Natalie was just SO unlikable, and the book had no real character development to explain why she was this way. I found the story far-fetched but very readable. It raises all kinds of questions about traditional roles, feminism, social media, faith, and marriage. I think this would make an interesting book club discussion. Quotes like this: "America hates women. What a comfort to remember." will make for a lively debate. Especially if your book club has a variety of generations. I'm glad I read this one.
A passage I marked
"When they talked about stay-at-home-mothers- specifically about their stay-at-home-mothers– their eyes didn't go misty with gratitude. Instead, they argued bravely that old-school femininity was a scourge. Any woman who chose to stay in the home instead of working in the world was complicit. Any woman who identified as a homemaker was both a victim and a perpetrator."
