Book Club Questions for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Book club questions for Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke take an in-depth look at this addictive and wild story about a tradwife influencer. There will be spoilers, so for more context about the story, check out my spoiler-free review first.

Oh man, this book was insane in many ways. At times, I almost couldn’t believe what I was reading. The raw honesty of Natalie and her disturbing thoughts was quite a unique reading experience.

It’s so interesting to read about such an unlikeable character, but you can’t stop. I was so curious about how it would all unfold, and wow, it went in such unexpected directions.

And that ending! So good, but still many questions and thoughts. Let’s take a closer look.

Summary

I’m officially going into spoilers, so don’t check the rest out until you’ve finished the book.

There is so much to unpack, but I’ll do my best. The entire time, the reader is left wondering what is actually going on with Natalie in the present. Did she time-travel to 1855 (unlikely after she found a microphone, but hey, you never know)? Was this part of a cruel reality show? I actually wondered if that was the case. But actually choosing this reality, whew, that was unexpected, at least for me.

But let’s back up. Through the two timelines, the reader follows the journey of how Natalie got to her current insane predicament from rushing into marriage with Caleb, her unhappiness of becoming a mom, and realizing Caleb was a dud, to eventually buying Yesteryear ranch and becoming a huge social media influencer.

Through it all, we are witnesses to her every action, and most importantly, her dark and cruel thoughts. After all, it is pretty vital that we, the readers, understand that there’s no redemption story for someone like Natalie. She certainly doesn’t deserve it.

Shannon, the former producer for Yesteryear, who left after Natalie assaulted her, gives a TV interview where she exposes Natalie as a fraud and also a predator. This loss of Natalie’s perfection, tradwife Christian identity, sends her into a mental breakdown.

Eventually, all the modern aspects of Yesteryear are gone, and she and Caleb live off the grid to avoid the real world and any consequences of their actions.

Ending

When I read that, I was floored. I try not to read too late at night since I have a four-year-old, but man, I couldn’t put it down and had to know what would happen next. I really thought it was some reality show competition, but whew, the fact that Natalie and Caleb chose that life, that was mind-blowing.

But of course, not that surprising in the end. Caleb was lazy, didn’t want any responsibilities, and had gotten into doomsday/prepper mode. Natalie could never take responsibility for her actions. So actually, it really made sense.

However, the tragedy lies in their children. While their oldest, Clemente, escaped, there were younger children still with them. And they all thought they lived in the 1800s. Eventually, Clemente saved the children through a warrant, and they left behind their parents.

Since Natalie and Caleb hate each other, they would rather face the real world than stay behind. And Natalie is brought to justice, serving a 30-year sentence for child abuse and other charges.

The ending features an interview with Natalie and her old nemesis, her college roommate, Reena. We can tell Natalie hadn’t learned anything. However, at least she is held accountable for her crimes.

The children work to move on and adapt to the modern-day world, and her daughter, Mary, wrote a memoir dedicated to her mother.

I thought the ending was fantastic. Big bravo to Clemente for being so strong and rescuing her siblings.

Book Club Questions for Yesteryear

1. Let’s first unpack our thoughts on Natalie. What is going on there? Do you think she has an undiagnosed mental illness? Or is she simply just cruel and mean?
2. Her mother instilled Christian values and traditional lifestyles, which Natalie more than took to heart. But it’s interesting that her mother would get frustrated at Natalie’s bad attitude and would ask her, “Why is it so hard for you to be kind?” Let’s turn the question to the group: Why couldn’t Natalie ever just be nice? Was there ever a moment she was?
3. We have the two timelines, one in the present where Natalie wakes up seemingly in 1855 with the same husband and most of the same children, and then the past, which eventually connects to the present. What did you think was going on with Natalie in the ‘past’? Tell us your theories you had as you read the book.
4. Natalie is extremely sheltered, and she was not prepared for college life. Instead of trying to integrate or even understand her classmates, she judged them and even had disputes with her roommate, Reena. What was behind Natalie’s judgment of her classmates and Reena?
5. When she meets Caleb, the son of a prominent republican politician, Natalie believes she has hit the jackpot. She can become a good Christian, wife, and mother, plus he comes from money, too. When did it become obvious that her dream was unfounded and the two were a bad match?
6. What was your impression of Caleb?
7. Let’s take a look now at Natalie’s life working without technology in the past. What stuck out to you the most about those scenes, including her interactions with ‘Old Caleb’?
8. When Natalie gives birth, she’s in over her head, deeply unhappy, and doesn’t show much affection for her daughter, Clemente. Do you feel she was suffering from postpartum depression, or was motherhood just not for her?
9. How did her dismissive attitude toward Clemente impact her daughter for years to come?
10. Caleb is at a loss for what to do for work after Natalie dismisses his teacher idea. Eventually, Natalie comes up with the idea to buy a farm in Idaho, with his dad’s money. Why did Natalie think the farm was a good idea?
11. This novel takes a deep dive into the tradwife lifestyle and influencer culture. What is your take on both of those concepts? How did this book explore the hypocrisy of a tradwife influencer?
12. Natalie is obsessed with her haters, often calling them elitist, out-of-touch progressive women. What was your reaction to Natalie’s constant obsession with her ‘haters’?
13. Eventually, it’s revealed that Caleb had an affair with Shannon, Yesteryear’s producer. Natalie is enraged and assaults Shannon, which Shannon eventually reveals to a journalist. Let’s unpack that scene and all the reveals.
14. We learn that Natalie did not time-travel, and is not in a reality show, but in fact, she had a mental breakdown after Shannon’s interview, and turned Yesteryear into a farm from the past to hide from the truth. What were your thoughts as you read all of that unfold? Why did Natalie and Caleb go into hiding?
15. Clemente comes back to rescue her siblings. What does it say about Natalie that she didn’t even fight to keep her kids?
16. Natalie and Caleb leave, and she’s arrested and has to serve 30 years in prison for child abuse and other crimes. Were you glad she was brought to justice?
17. Why did she want to do her TV interview with Reena after all this time?
18. What happens next for all her children?
19. Natalie was instilled to be a good Christian wife, but these thoughts also trap her as well and put her in a box that doesn’t quite fit. Do you see her as the villain of her own choices?

Additional Recommendations

Hope you enjoyed the book club questions for Yesteryear! Here are some more recommendations, along with links to book club questions.

June Hayward and Athena Liu are friends from college, and both share huge literary aspirations. While Athena’s debut skyrockets to huge success, June’s novel barely has any sales. June is quite jealous of Athena’s success and believes she’s only the ‘it girl’ of the literary world due to her race.

When June witnesses Athena’s freakish death, she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

June edits Athena’s novel but summits to her agent as her own work. She lets the new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. 

Check out my full review here. And my book club questions here.

Phoebe arrives at a fancy hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, with no bag and one goal in mind. However, her plans alter when she is mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, even though she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t attending the big event. 

Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years―she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe’s plan, which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

Check out my full review here. And my book club questions here.

Happy reading!