If You Like Yesteryear…
Bestselling Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (2026) focuses on Natalie as she becomes a tradwife influencer. Her dopey husband Caleb, his politician father, their many children, and their “like-family” staff populate her days of cultivating the perfect internet persona. When she is pregnant with her sixth child, something unexpected happens to Natalie — she wakes up back in time on their ranch without electricity, indoor plumbing, or any of her other beloved amenities. And the family on the ranch isn’t hers. She is no longer pregnant and she doesn’t know the four children who call her mama. The novel pieces together how Natalie ended up there and what happens to her family in her pursuit of perfection.
The books below range from a historical novel to a dystopian story of surveillance along with varied depictions of motherhood.
Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick (2020)
This historical fiction novel follows the life of Abigail Scott Duniway, an early suffragette. As she tries to make a life that works for her — fighting for rights for women, writing, and having a family — she also deals with the twin feelings of guilt and entrapment that mothers can experience. If she had been less of an activist, would her children have been better off? she wonders. Fans of Yesteryear will like the 19th-century struggles that Abigail faces and her views on motherhood.
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (2022)
This scorching depiction of motherhood takes place in a near-realistic totalitarian regime where mistreatment of children by their parents leads to punishing incarceration, in the guise of a training center. I was struck by how many layers of judgment Chan exposed — the government’s and expert’s judgment, of course, but also our self critique and that of our peers. While I sympathized with the characters, thinking that the punishment did not fit their crime, I also found myself thinking, “but at least I’d never do anything like that!” Fans of Yesteryear will enjoy Chan’s exploration of what mothers are supposed to do for their children.
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (2023)
This novel is narrated by June, a white struggling author. She is friends with Athena, the beautiful, poised, Asian American successful writer whom June can’t help but envy. When Athena dies in an accident while June is in her apartment, she takes the writer’s notes on a future novel. She finds herself drawn in to the novel and finishes it. When she decides to publish it under her own name, she starts down a path that leads June into more deception and manipulation. The book is a biting satire of the publishing industry and how it treats white writers and writers of color. Though not about motherhood, Kuang’s depiction of how we mold ourselves to fit what others expect or desire will appeal to Yesteryear fans.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (2025)
This novel is a tale of government overreach, a society under surveillance, and life in retention. Sara is on her way home from a conference, anxious to see her husband and infant twins, when she is flagged by the Risk Assessment Administration. Her score is too high, she may be a danger to her husband, so she must stay in a retention center for observation. The scores are based on information from people’s digital life — your computer searches, your emails, and your dreams (tracked by a sleep-aid implant). Sara bristles against the injustice of detention for something she hasn’t done, but any act of subordination, any infraction, adds time to her stay.