May 2026 Book: Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Use this post to discuss your thoughts about the book.

Feel free to comment even if you don't participate in our bookclub!  This is open to all readers!

Read the comments at your own peril!  There may be spoilers!

Reader's Guide Questions from Book Club Chat

Feel free to answer all the questions, some of the questions, or none of the questions and just give us your general thoughts on the book!

1. Do you think she has an undiagnosed mental illness? Or is she simply just cruel and mean?
2. How did your opinion of Natalie change over the course of the book, especially as you learned more about her personal background, the origins of Yesteryear Ranch, and her transformation after Shannon’s allegations?
3. 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?
4. What was your impression of Caleb?
5. When Natalie gives birth, she’s in over her head, deeply unhappy, and doesn’t show much affection for her daughter, Clementine. Do you feel she was suffering from postpartum depression, or was motherhood just not for her?
6. 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’?
7. 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.
8. 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?
9. Clementine comes back to rescue her siblings. What does it say about Natalie that she didn’t even fight to keep her kids?
10. 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?
11. Why did she want to do her TV interview with Reena after all this time?
12. What happens next for all her children?
13. 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?