Yesteryear

I think some of the dislike is because the main character is unlikeable, and does not get a redemption arc- it doesn’t follow the theory of equilibrium in the typical ‘happy ending’ way.

I enjoyed it and did not see the twist coming.

I loved it. Didn't see the twist coming and was happy to avoid the supernatural. I thought it was really pertinent to the USA today and other places to an extent.

I found it a little longwinded and was glad to get to the end.

Quite liked the “twist” but it was a slog to get there. Interesting characters and I think credit to the author that they remained unlikeable throughout.

I already knew about the twist, so wasn’t surprised, but I have a question about the ending. We’re told that Clementine escapes with the children when she’s 16, and ends up with Abigail (Natalie’s mother). Did she leave Mary behind as she was too young? Plus, how did Caleb get the older boys back to live as their ‘neighbours’ and provide the food etc if they’d left with Clementine?

I have mixed feelings about the book in general - it’s a really interesting idea, and the way that Natalie was an unreliable and unlikeable character was unusual, but it didn’t really work for me.

I think Natalie was possibly pregnant with Mary when the others left. She hadn’t been born yet I don’t think. And I read it to mean that the older boys went back of their own accord. Cushty life I guess, watching TV in their cabin in the woods all day.

Yeah I found it long winded too, but I think also, cleverly, we were supposed to. Living in that way was drab and boring and monotonous and tedious. The so called simple life… with a bit of grass is greener…

I’ve just finished it. Found it riveting from end to end, I read the vast majority (I.e. after the first 20 pages) this evening. Wow!

I loved it and read it quickly because I was so keen to find out how it was going to resolve itself. None of the adult characters were likeable though which I think puts a lot of people off.

It’s a very uncomfortable narrative on a certain sector of online influencers too

Agree. The 'Mormon Momfluencer' does seem to be an pretty viable career choice in Utah and suchlike.

I read Natalie as someone who had a poor relationship with the truth and sense of self from the get-go, found what she thought was a way to 'win' at life and when that crumbled, she had a complete mental breakdown. I don't think she was ' inherently cruel' or focussed in her abuse in a Ruby Franke way, I think she was desperately trying to self-preserve to the point of selfishness and the selfishness and desperation combined with the mental health crisis manifested itself in neglect/abuse/cruelty.

The ONLY thing that jarred for me were the dated height notches on the door. She had specifically assigned years to the heights of the children living in the 'past' whereas I would imagine in reality, the concept of time would be more vaguely rooted in the past rather than linear and specific.

Still loved it

I found the dates so jarring too, but because it was obvious she had fallen into some form of religion psychosis where she genuinely believed she was in the 1800s. Caleb let it happen because he could escape.