Yesteryear

A social media celebrity—a wife and mother who sells her fantasy pioneer lifestyle of sourdough and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of followers—suddenly wakes up cold, dirty, and hungry in the year 1855 and must uncover the nature of her terrifying new existence in this sensational debut novel.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes? What Natalie's 8 million followers don't know won't hurt them.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn't hers. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she's expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a brutal reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God?

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

Praise for Yesteryear:

• "Mesmerizing... An ingenious, exquisite, be-careful-what-you-wish-for... Revelatory... 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." —Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe
• "Bitingly funny and occasionally heartbreaking." —Los Angeles Times
• "The canniest fictional dissection of femininity and the panopticon of social media... A rollicking satirical debut." —Vogue, Best Books of 2026
• "Caro's writing grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go." —Anne Hathaway
• "An absolutely unhinged (in a good way) novel... When I tell you the ending is off the rails, I am telling you the ending is off the rails." —Roxane Gay
• "Perfect wife, perfect life? Think again... Page-turning and illuminating." —Nita Prose, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Maid series
• "Wickedly funny, beautifully written, and frighteningly perceptive." —Abigail Dean, NYT bestselling author of Girl A
• "It reminded me of Gone Girl, with its unreliable, intensely unlikeable narrator, amazing twist and needlepoint observations. It's going to be seismic." —Stacey Halls
• "Everyone is going to be talking about this book." —Bella Mackie

About the Author: Caro Claire Burke received her MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and is the co-host of Diabolical Lies, a politics and culture podcast. Yesteryear is her first novel.