Book Blog #397: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

 Title: Yesteryear

Author: Caro Claire Burke

# of Pages: 391

Genre: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Rating: ★★★ ☆ ☆

Synopsis: 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, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the Republican equivalent of a Kennedy? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it. Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. 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? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

Review: Good but not great. Fresh but not extraordinary. 

This is the first book I’ve read about a tradwife influencer, so I liked how this story delved into how this type of person rises to fame. 

The narrative reminded me of Yellowface; Natalie, our tradwife narrator, is extremely unlikable and unreliable. I was quite disgusted with her narcissistic, judgmental attitude but thought the author did a great job at creating such a distinct, unhinged narrative. 

The story jumps between the Natalie’s rise to fame from her college days onward and her present day 1855 life. Most of the mystery is how she’s suddenly in this 1855 life, and the story of her past has to run in parallel to this to build up to the reveal. I wasn’t a huge fan of switching back in forth because some of the past segments were slower/boring, and I wanted to hear more about her trying to understand the 1855 lifestyle. 

The mystery reveal was a letdown for me; I wasn’t able to fully guess the ending, but it felt like a cop-out ending. The resolution felt rush and unrealistic logistically. 

I’d recommend this book if you’re interested in the topic (especially if you’re interested in the real life influencer account Ballerina Farms); it’s an easy and quick read. 

Book Blog #396: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

 

Title: The Correspondent

Author: Virginia Evans

# of Pages: 280 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read.

Review: To Virginia Evans, I give her a quote from her own book:

"You do very well with inhabiting your narrators and telling the story as they would" 

The Correspondent is a collection of letters/emails between Sybil, a grandmother and retired lawyer and various people in her life ranging from her children to a customer service rep. Sybil's personality is quite apparent in her letters; she's your classic rambling, oversharing, judgmental elderly retiree. I was hating this book in the start because I don't usually like talking with these type of people in real life, but I realized that Evan's was actually very masterful at crafting Sybil's letters to portray this familiar archetype.

Despite Sybil's stubbornness, I liked that she is depicted as a fallible. Although she is still an old woman who tends to be stuck in her ways, this story still captures her character growth in her capacity to reflect, process trauma, and most of all admit fault and make amends.

I usually avoid this format (collection of letters) because it's ultimately my least favorite format (first person POV switching), made worse by not knowing who is writing the letter until you pick up on context clues (or skip to the end to see who's name signs off on it). While these arguments still hold true for this book, Evan's did a great job at taking advantage of taking advantage of the benefits of this format. Major revelations are delivered almost offhandedly, embedded in the natural flow of the letters, which makes them feel more surprising and real as the reader learns about them alongside the recipient. 

Slow paced and a peaceful read. While I appreciate Sybil's realistic depiction, I didn't particularly connect with her and her story emotionally (thus the three stars). I wouldn't recommend this book in a hurry if you don't think you can resonate with this type of person, especially since the story is about a woman who is extraordinary amongst those she knows but unextraordinary otherwise.