Yesteryear - Effable Book Club

Low-key cult energy, the promise of a plot twist, and writing so good it takes you out of reality - the holy trinity for any good read and reason enough for it to fly onto the preorder list. 

Yesteryear had all three, and while it might have featured on every reading influencer’s grid and in just about every hot list that’s been published in the last two months, it is for very good reason. 

Optioned before release, and set for an adaptation starring Anne Hathaway, that almost tells you everything you need to know about the quality of the book, but there is a whole lot more to know about the trad-wife influencer at the centre of the story. 

'My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive…'

We’re landed right into the world of Natalie, influencer and homemaker with 8 million Instagram followers - very casual. Living on a ranch with her five children (and a sixth on the way) alongside her doting husband, everything seems perfect until she wakes up in 1805. Really. 

Beautifully written, a gripping story, and a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end, Yesteryear blends the horrors of modernity with the reality of yesteryear, leaving us wondering what idyllic looks like and at what cost. Read this if you love: fast-paced fiction and a good twist, especially if you liked The Lamb, Sorrow and Bliss, or Cleopatra and Frankenstein.