Author events are usually pretty staid affairs. Interesting, yes. Engaging, sure. But "raucous" is not a word I'd typically use to describe the atmosphere of a book talk. So I was a bit taken aback by the club-like atmosphere at author Caro Claire Burke's recent talk for Tombolo Books.
The intimate bookstore had moved the event to Creative Coastal to accommodate the crowd. I entered to find dimmed lights and pounding music. Electric candles illuminated the space. The 250 or so people - almost all women -- were excitedly waiting to hear from an author whose novel tells the story of a trad wife influencer who's fallen down a rabbit hole and emerged in 1855. (In case you're not familiar with the term "trad wife," it is a woman who embraces traditional gender roles and values in her marriage. An "influencer" is, of course, someone who shares her lifestyle online with a zillion followers.)
"Yesteryear" is Burke's debut novel. She said she wrote the first draft in a fever dream. It was as if Natalie, her protagonist, was controlling what Burke wrote. The author likened her writing experience to hanging out with your craziest friend and wondering where she had decided they would end up on any given night. The result is a wild ride of a story.
Burke's plan had been for Natalie to be an immediately likeable character who's submissive and acted upon by the world and whose husband is fully in charge of their lives. As you might have gathered, that is not the way anyone would describe Natalie. Instead, she is plotting and manipulative and extremely self-centered. In short, not the type of person most people would enjoy being around.
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| Author Caro Claire Burke |
Natalie wasn't always that way, though. While in college, she met the son of a politician at a Christian campus group meeting. The life he offered her seemed to be a world beyond her wildest dreams. But appearances can be deceiving. Instead of her dream life, she found herself married to an incredibly wimpy guy, living on a farm and popping out babies. Natalie's savior is her Instagram account, on which she joyfully shares what is less than an actual joyful life. When her online persona takes off, her existence becomes driven by creating content. And that's all I'm going to say about the story of "Yesteryear" for fear of diluting your own reading experience.
But that's not my last word, of course. If you're thinking "this sounds like it has the makings of a good movie," you're right. In a bidding war that took place two years before the novel hit bookstores, Amazon MGM Studios acquired the rights to make "Yesteryear" the movie. Anne Hathaway is set to produce and star in the film. Interestingly, media outlets are characterizing it as a "horror" movie. To read more about the movie and the political chord "Yesteryear" is striking, click
here. (In case you don't have time, here's one interesting tidbit from the article. Burke traced the origins of the term "tradwife" to online incel -- or involuntarily celibate -- spaces. Creepy.)
Thanks to Tombolo Books for hosting this terrific event. To hear directly from the author, click
here for a short interview with her on the Seth Meyers show. One tidbit I learned from that interview is that there are 742 holds for the novel in the NY Public Library System and that someone requesting the book can expect to receive it in 10,402 days. So if you think "Yesteryear" sounds like a good choice for your bookclub, you might want to bite the bullet and buy a copy. Happy reading!
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