Author: Caro Claire Burke
Year published: 2026
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 400
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Location: (my 2026 Google Reading map): USA (ID, CA)
Summary: My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.
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.
Review: This novel was the choice of my in-person book group. I was on the fence about reading it until I read a few really good reviews by my fellow book bloggers. Now I cannot wait to discuss it with my friends!
I cannot imagine waking up in another time where everything is just slightly off from your "real" life. How do you not completely freak out? Well, she did, let's give her credit for that. It's easy not to like Natalie at first, with her self-righteous attitude and the fake life she presents to the social media world. The parallel lives are well done, alternating among now, the 1800s, and her early married life.
The summary of this book is very clever, leaving out all the surprises that come along the way. My opinion of Natalie definitely changed as the story progressed and we learned more about her, her life, and how she became a social media influencer. The novel does a great job of showing the life we all project to the world (whether on social media or in person) and that our realities are far more complex and full of depth.
I liked seeing the role of the parents and the siblings, and their influence on the main couple. Religion also plays a big role in the characters' actions. And then, BAM! All is revealed. And what a revelation. I did not see it coming, and it was so well done. Game, set, match Burke.
Challenges for which this counts:
- 20 Books of Summer
- Alphabet (Title)--Y
- Big Book Summer challenge--400 pages
- Literary Escapes--Idaho
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