Why We Love to Hate Tradwives

The summer’s most talked-about novel, the debut Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, has a tantalizing premise: a tradwife influencer wakes up one day to find that her modern kitchen, two nannies, and the other behind-the-scenes creature comforts that prop up her “traditional” lifestyle brand have disappeared. Instead, she is now living in 1855, where she has to bake her signature sourdough over a fickle fire and bloody her hands while scrubbing clothes with a washboard. Many readers come to the story hoping for a takedown of the internet corner where traditional gender roles reign. It’s no wonder the book has spent fourteen weeks at or near the top of the New York Times bestseller list and has become a favorite of women’s book clubs. Film rights have already been sold, with Anne Hathaway set for the leading role.