‘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.
Book Info: 390 pages. Publisher: 4th Estate. Publication Date: 7 April 2026.
My Thoughts:
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or simply haven’t paid your wifi bill for the past 6 months, you will have seen that Yesteryear is ALL over social media. It’s on nearly everyone’s TOP 10 list of 2026 and we are only in July. So, obviously my FOMO kicked in, and I had to read it to see what all the fuss is about.
Tradwives are the “in” subject at the moment and I’ve read several this year. In case you didn’t know, this is an influencer, normally living relatively off grid, on a farm, at least 5 children, handsome husband, bakes her own bread, makes her own clothes, home-schools her children whilst simultaneously milking a cow and preaching to her 8 million followers. What we don’t normally see is that behind this facade is a team of producers, nannies and farm helpers.
Natalie is the main character and narrator of this debut novel. On the surface she seems to have it ALL, but one morning she wakes up and seems to have time travelled back to 1855. Her house is her house, but not her house, her husband is her husband, but not her husband, her children are… you get the point!
Is this The Truman Show? Has she lost her mind? WTAF has happened and more importantly WHY? Slowly Natalie starts to tell the reader more about her past and the events that have led up to this unexplained situation.
Did I enjoy it?.. Yes.
Did I understand what was happening? Not really.
Did I think it was worth the hype? Not sure.
Would I recommend it? Yes, but just because I can’t wait to find out your thoughts at the end.
