What to read after Yesteryear
In the best way, it feels like everyone has either already read Yesteryear, has it on their TBR, or has asked their coworkers to spoil the entire plot for them (me!). It's easily the buzziest book of 2026, and has the sale numbers to prove it. How often do you see a book on Goodreads with over 1 million ratings less than 6 months after publication? And for a debut no less!
While it's impossible to pinpoint exactly what makes a book go viral, we think Yesteryear has a few key qualities that have piqued people's interest and made it fly off the shelf the way it has (NOT including the Anne Hathaway lead movie adaptation that we are very excited about).1. It has an addictive, unputdownable quality. 2. The time-travel/speculative element. 3. The obsessive & spiralling main character. 4. And of course, its exploration of online performance in tradwife spheres.
So, whether you're here because you recently finished Yesteryear and are craving something along the same lines, or if you've opted out of this particular title, but love the sound of the above descriptions—you're in the right place! Check out our reading recommendations below.
A Splintering by Dur e Aziz Amna
In a village in rural Pakistan, Tara is waiting and watching. The smell of dung and dust hangs over her world.
She is desperate to leave the petty life of the village and escape the iron grip of her violent, unpredictable brother. Marrying a middle-class accountant allows her to escape to the capital, but she soon finds that life as a respectable housewife is not sufficient either. She wants what the rich mothers at her children’s school have.
She wants what their husbands have. But can she truly shake her past? And what of the menacing spectre of her brother, a reminder of the threads that tie her to the life she left behind?
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
If you haven't already read this masterpiece, now is the time!
Offred is a Handmaid in The Republic of Gilead, a religious totalitarian state in what was formerly known as the United States. She is placed in the household of The Commander, Fred Waterford - her assigned name, Offred, means 'of Fred'. She has only one function: to breed.
If Offred refuses to enter into sexual servitude to repopulate a devastated world, she will be hanged. Yet even a repressive state cannot eradicate hope and desire. As she recalls her pre-revolution life in flashbacks, Offred must navigate through the terrifying landscape of torture and persecution in the present day, and between two men upon which her future hangs.
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
*also recommended by Caro Claire Burke in a recent interview with @underthecover via Instagram*
In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave. When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning.
She saves his life - and it will happen again and again. Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them. And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun.
This is the extraordinary story of two people bound by blood, separated by so much more than time.
The Return of the Housewife by Emma Casey (non-fiction)
Housework is good for you. Housework sparks joy. Housework is beautiful. Housework is glamorous. Housework is key to a happy family. Housework shows that you care. Housework is women’s work. Social media is flooded with images of the perfect housewife.
TikTok and Instagram ‘cleanfluencers’ produce endless photos and videos of women cleaning, tidying and putting things right. And yet housework remains one of the world’s most unequal institutions. Women, especially poorer women and women of colour, do most low-paid and unpaid domestic labour.
In The Return of the Housewife, Emma Casey asks why these inequalities matter and why they persist after a century of dramatic advances in women’s rights. She offers a powerful call to challenge the prevailing myths around housework and the ‘naturally competent’ woman homemaker.
The Compound by Aisling Rawle
You wake up in a compound in the middle of the desert, along with nine other women.
All of you are young, all beautiful, all keen to escape the grinding poverty, political unrest and environmental catastrophe of the outside world. You realise that cameras are tracking your every move, broadcasting to millions of reality TV fans. Soon, ten men will arrive on foot – if they all survive the journey.
What will you have to do to win? And what happens to the losers? The Compound is an addictive literary satire on modern excess: it holds a twisted mirror up to our obsession with winning, losing and, above all, watching.
Esther is Now Following you by Tanya Sweeney
Esther first sees Ted walking in a park in London. They lock eyes and for a fraction of a second, she feels something she’s never felt before. She starts by reading up about his life in Canada and his work as an actor.
Then she watches every interview with him online. It isn’t long before she’s joined Ted’s fan site online where her and the ‘Tedettes’ stalk his every move. When Ted gets a new celebrity girlfriend, Esther decides that things have gone far enough.
She leaves her husband, takes all their savings, and buys a one-way ticket to Canada. After all, Ted might not know it yet, but they are meant to be together – he just needs a little bit of persuading.
Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
Julie Chan didn’t mean to steal her identical twin’s life. She meant to call the police when she found the body. She meant to dial 911. Except when she unlocked Chloe’s phone to make that call, she also gained access to her estranged sister’s sponsorship deals, her followers, her wealth, her whole life. And Julie’s not prepared to give it back. Not yet. So it's goodbye Julie, love Chloe x
Now all Julie has to do is keep her head down and blend in with the beautiful Belladonnas, the tribe of influencers who had welcomed Chloe in to their inner circle before she died.
Julie's going to breathe, detox, workout. Curate each post. Filter each picture. Spend whole days filming unboxing videos. But someone out there knows that even identical twins have their differences.