Yesteryear, by Caro Claire Burke
Monday, October 26, 6:30 PM
Natalie Heller Mills is perfect at being alive—or so she tells her millions of followers, from her rustic farmhouse with its raw milk, farm-fresh eggs, and handsome cowboy husband. Then she wakes up cold, filthy, and genuinely stuck in 1855. A propulsive satire about "tradwife" culture, performance, and what happens when the aesthetic becomes the actual nightmare.
Why we chose it: This one was nominated and voted on by our book club members! We'd been seeing it everywhere this year, and the member who nominated it said she couldn't put it down and couldn't wait to talk about it with everyone else. It's a darkly funny look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood—and it's also the book club equivalent of watching a car crash you can't look away from. We're excited for this discussion!
Content considerations: satire involving domestic violence themes, childbirth/medical peril, some graphic and disturbing content, dark humor throughout
Why we chose it: This one was nominated and voted on by our book club members! We'd been seeing it everywhere this year, and the member who nominated it said she couldn't put it down and couldn't wait to talk about it with everyone else. It's a darkly funny look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood—and it's also the book club equivalent of watching a car crash you can't look away from. We're excited for this discussion!
Content considerations: satire involving domestic violence themes, childbirth/medical peril, some graphic and disturbing content, dark humor throughout
PAIRED WITH: Vaughn Duffy Old River Red Cuvee IV
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The wine: A rustic field-blend homage built from old-vine Carignane, Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah sourced across Mendocino and Sonoma County vineyards. Juicy berry fruit, lively spice, silky tannins, this is a wine that recreates an old-school California style.
The owners/winemakers: Matt Duffy and Sara Vaughn started as a couple in a tiny San Francisco apartment, sharing sample bottles Matt brought home from the wine shop where he worked. In 2007, they gave up the perks of city life and moved to Sonoma County so Matt could learn winemaking from the ground up. They bought their first ton of grapes in 2009 and built Vaughn Duffy from there. The pairing: Natalie fakes the country-life fantasy for her followers; Matt and Sara are actually living it, trading the city for real dirt, vines, and hands-on work. Same premise, very different endings. Purchase the wine by the glass or bottle during our Book Club Meeting! |
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BE SURE TO RSVP
Come enjoy some wine and tell us what you thought of the book with an informal discussion. Remember, if you RSVP and attend, you get a Bingo bonus stamp!
raVES & REVIEWS
“Mesmerizing… An ingenious, exquisite, be-careful-what-you-wish-for… In Burke’s biting prose, Natalie is an electric antiheroine… Revelatory… Yesteryear draws to a dizzying conclusion.”
–Michelle Ruiz, The New York Times Book Review
“One of the year’s most relentlessly fast-paced and satisfying novels, a sharp and witty social satire that also works as a taut thriller and a vexing work of speculation… Unusually ambitious for a debut novel and also uncannily astute about the complicated, contradictory times in which we live.”
–Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
“The closest we’ll get inside a tradwife’s real and imperfect mind… Burke doesn’t hold back… The humor is delightful… I laughed out loud… Burke’s writing is honest and accessible. She’s not trying to slander Natalie; she’s trying to show us the unvarnished version. At the end of the day, that’s the paradox of Yesteryear — and one that makes it worth reading.”
–Ginny Hogan, The Cut
“Bitingly funny and occasionally heartbreaking… Burke deftly paints a portrait of a woman whose sharp edges and supreme capability put her at odds with everyone in her life… More than a giddy, gory tale of a tradwife’s comeuppance… Emotionally resonant.”
–Aiden Arata, Los Angeles Times
“Bracing… There are more than a few satisfying twists that kept me reading late into the night… Juicy, vindictive and loads of fun.”
–Maddie Oatman, Mother Jones
“Burke keeps the reader guessing… I had no idea where the story was going—and found myself genuinely surprised at the end.”
–Véronique Hyland, Elle
“An absolutely unhinged (in a good way) novel about a lifestyle influencer. . . . When I tell you the ending is off the rails, I am telling you the ending is off the rails.”
—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist
“The canniest fictional dissection of femininity and the panopticon of social media….A rollicking satirical debut.”
—Vogue, “The Best Books of 2026″
–Michelle Ruiz, The New York Times Book Review
“One of the year’s most relentlessly fast-paced and satisfying novels, a sharp and witty social satire that also works as a taut thriller and a vexing work of speculation… Unusually ambitious for a debut novel and also uncannily astute about the complicated, contradictory times in which we live.”
–Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
“The closest we’ll get inside a tradwife’s real and imperfect mind… Burke doesn’t hold back… The humor is delightful… I laughed out loud… Burke’s writing is honest and accessible. She’s not trying to slander Natalie; she’s trying to show us the unvarnished version. At the end of the day, that’s the paradox of Yesteryear — and one that makes it worth reading.”
–Ginny Hogan, The Cut
“Bitingly funny and occasionally heartbreaking… Burke deftly paints a portrait of a woman whose sharp edges and supreme capability put her at odds with everyone in her life… More than a giddy, gory tale of a tradwife’s comeuppance… Emotionally resonant.”
–Aiden Arata, Los Angeles Times
“Bracing… There are more than a few satisfying twists that kept me reading late into the night… Juicy, vindictive and loads of fun.”
–Maddie Oatman, Mother Jones
“Burke keeps the reader guessing… I had no idea where the story was going—and found myself genuinely surprised at the end.”
–Véronique Hyland, Elle
“An absolutely unhinged (in a good way) novel about a lifestyle influencer. . . . When I tell you the ending is off the rails, I am telling you the ending is off the rails.”
—Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Feminist
“The canniest fictional dissection of femininity and the panopticon of social media….A rollicking satirical debut.”
—Vogue, “The Best Books of 2026″