What the Heck Is Going on Here?
I really liked this book, but it took until page 361 of 391 for me to feel that way. Up until page 361 I wasn’t even sure what the book was about. There were too many options presented. Was the author commenting on trad wives? On religious conservatism (especially as it plays out on Christian wives and mothers)? On influencer culture? On feminism? On male-bashing? On how dumb politicians are? On corrupt politicians? On…well you name it. She even touched on the vaccination controversy and home schooling.
Beyond that, a lot of things were over the top. For instance, I am willing to chuckle as an author goes in for some male bashing, but isn’t this quote a bit wacky? “There comes a point in every marriage when a woman realizes that the man she married is a freak. This is inevitable. It cannot be avoided. The only real question is the matter of what type of freak your husband will be – meaning: if you are lucky, you will find out your husband is preternaturally into vintage children’s train sets, and you will not find out that your husband pays high school cheerleaders for sex. That is the best we homemakers can hope for in this life: a man whose freakishness is not unspeakably violent or technically illegal, and therefore is something we are able to bear.”
As I tried to figure out what the book was about, the book jacket gave me these clues: Natalie Heller Mills is a social media influencer. She is a wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to millions of followers. Married to a handsome man and the mother of six, she is living the good life AND building an empire. Her followers do not know it, but there is a whole staff helping to make this life look good.
But then one morning Natalie wakes up in a life that she doesn’t quite recognize. The house, the husband, the kids, they are all sort of familiar, but not the real deal. Ultimately, she finds out she is in 1855.
I liked this premise. It made me think the book would be about time travel and I like time travel. I said that to my daughters who had read and liked the book, they just sort of looked at each other and said, “Just read the book.”
And when I complained again when I got to page 126 and had no idea where the book was going, they again instructed me, “Just read the book.”
Needing more to go on, I returned to the book jacket where an author I like – Roxane Gay – blurbed the book this way: “Absolutely unhinged (in a good way). When I tell you the ending is off the rails, I am telling you the ending is off the rails.”
Thus it seemed a big ending was coming, and I hung around for it.
As it turns out, I really did like the ending. It explained away all my confusion.
BUT having to read almost 400 pages to get there was an annoying thing for the author to ask of me.
BUT I have forgiven her because the ending was just so good.
One more thing in closing – the book seems to be heading for TV or big screen adaptation. In the author’s acknowledgments she tells us, “When this novel was nothing but a first draft, I was given the extremely bizarre and wholly undeserved privilege of workshopping it with some of the greatest living artists and thinkers in the world. My conversations with Anne Hathaway in particular were instrumental in bringing Natalie to life. Thank you to Somewhere Pictures, Entertainment 360, and the Amazon film team for your passion, curiosity, and tireless championing of this novel.”
I’m wondering how it will be to watch the movie when I know all that I know. You will know all too. Just read the book.
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Click here to learn more about Yesteryear on Amazon.
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If you like my writing, I hope you will check out my new book, Chai on Life. It contains 36 slice-of-life stories ranging in topics from belly fat to Billy Joel. It is available wherever books are sold and on Amazon. There is even a companion journal for you to write the stories of your life.
Chai on Life is available in 3 formats: Hard Back, Kindle, and AudioBook.
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