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Time, Truth, and Yesteryear: In Conversation with Caro Claire Burke

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Podcaster, and Cultural Commentator
Thursday, January 14th 2027 at 6:00 PM CST
Register now for your private live link or find the recording after the event.

Join us online for a provocative and darkly humorous online conversation with author Caro Claire Burke as we dive into the debut book everyone’s been buzzing about–Yesteryear, a GMA Book Club Pick and one of New York Times Best Books of the Year.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood.

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About the Author:

CARO CLAIRE BURKE received her Master’s in Fine Arts from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is the co-host of Diabolical Lies, a politics and culture podcast. Yesteryear is her first novel.

All events are free and open to the public.  For more information or to register for the author talks, visit https://libraryc.org/danvillepubliclibrary or call 217-477-5220.

Brought to you in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium and a grant from Danville Library Foundation.

The Library is committed to making programs accessible to all. If you would like an accommodation, please email the Community Relations Administrator at btruscelli@danvillepubliclibrary.org or call 217-477-5220 ext. 111.

The views expressed by presenters are their own and their appearance in a program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Danville Public Library.