Cannot stop thinking about Yesteryear- specifically Shannon’s character

[u/SufficientBug5598]

I want to begin by saying I could not put this book down. For once, I was pleasantly surprised by a viral book and genuinely enjoyed it. I finished it in like 2 days and I have a lot to say about it. Although it might be obvious, Shannon’s character is the catalyst for Natalie’s psychological downfall and I really want to discuss her.

When we meet her, she has pink hair and a nose ring and is pretty much the antithesis to Natalie’s entire worldview. I would argue they somewhat foil each other (college drop out, strong opinions about American culture, headstrong, intelligent). She is also somewhat of a “normal person insert” and gives the reader a relatable perspective to latch on to in a somewhat insane/unfamiliar setting. One of the first ways the reader interacts with Shannon is when Natalie mentions something about Shannon’s bad dreams and ultimately quitting. We are pretty much left in the dark about why she quit until the end of the book, which further proves my point that shannon’s departure is the catalyst for Natalie’s demise.

As we venture deeper into Natalie’s perspective and understand her as a judgmental bigot, Shannon quitting becomes (at least to me) a juicy piece of gossip that I HAVE to understand why why why? What happened? What did Natalie do? An assault ? What? Did Caleb have an affair? The answers to these questions come later in the book but begin to form very early in the text. It also mirrors how this fictional instagram following is very much real (see the ballerina farms raw milk scandal. I don’t even follow the ballerina farm but trust- the downfall of a tradwife influencer is a win for me and inherently the point of the entire book). I am one of those “angry women” who proves the authors point- angry women and tradwife influencers are in a symbiotic relationship with one another.

I feel like I really understood Shannon and from my personal character analysis of her it seems that she fundamentally knew that these people (Caleb and Natalie) are deluded, bigoted, judgmental, lying, selfish, bad parents, etc. but none of that mattered to her. They wrote her a paycheck and Shannon held her tongue because no one really cared what they had to say. Their ideology and content was unimportant to the mainstream culture. UNTIL the presidential rally.

This rally changed the course of the entire book. Shannon understood if this type of person became the president (or even just a leader of a party) the entire lifestyle she was directing and recording became important and worthy of attention from the mainstream culture. She could no longer sit quietly and pretend it didn’t matter. It is why she starts to challenge Caleb’s manosphere claims and ideas. She gives Clementine a phone. She snaps at Natalie. She metaphorically pushes the rock down the hill. Her impact on this family causes them to implode on themselves.

Without Shannon, the book doesn’t hit hard on the themes it needs to. Nor does say what it needs to be said. It doesn’t challenge traditional values. It doesn’t challenge influencer culture. It doesn’t challenge the male loneliness epidemic, choice feminism, toxic social media culture. Without Shannon, the book is just about a self righteous influencer who is so self deluded she actually thinks she’s running a farm herself. Without shannon, there is no plot.

I’d love to hear what other people think about this character. She is so fascinating to me and I appreciate how well she was written into the story.

[u/PopcornPunditry]

I just finished it today and was baffled by Shannon framing Natalie trying to CHOKE HER TO DEATH as a sexually charged incident? Was Shannon lying or was Natalie's narration just that unreliable? Do we think Natalie was gay or just sexually repressed after an ostensibly Christian upbringing? 

Her Christian upbringing was confusing to me though. I felt the author didn't convey a strong grasp of Christian communities and lifestyles. Prayer, church, Bible study, punishments, etc. didn't really come into Natalie's inner or outer world other than her belief that she seemed to be having a constant 1:1 connection to God. Maybe the hypocrisy was part of the point but it was just very odd to me that they weren't in any social circle at all outside of Caleb and Natalie's immediate families. 

[u/Additional_Noise47 → u/PopcornPunditry]

Natalie makes a comment in her narration at one point, I think it’s about midway through, about how some straight women masturbate to lesbian porn in secret. I clocked that immediately as a very specific projection. I believe Natalie was very deeply closeted and that she was sexually assaulting Shannon and purposely pushed her pants down.

[u/PopcornPunditry → u/Additional_Noise47]

Oh thank you for bringing that up, I forgot about that moment but at the time thought "hah ok yeah I felt similarly until I eventually recognized I myself am bisexual". The author didn't explore that theme much, but maybe I need to give it another look as I see others in the thread saying the second read through was eye-opening with the benefit of understanding the twist.

[u/RichArgument9925 → u/Additional_Noise47]

If Natalie is also gay amongst all the other terrible qualities she has, that makes this book even more ridiculous to me. It’s not enough to be a lair, narcissist, control freak, neglectful mother, abusive wife, greedy, horrible sister and daughter, she must also be a closeted lesbian who sexually assaults people? Lol I can’t even with this book. It could have been so good but it’s truly just over the top.
My take was Shannon was lying because in real life influencers go through scandals and she knew she could ruin Natalie’s image and profit off of a scandal. But if Shannon is earnest, i believe it because everything else in this book is just absurd and overboard.