When we are first introduced to Old Caleb, we see his violent side. In Chapter 29, Old Caleb is gentler. Natalie says she used to pray for a man like Old Caleb. What do you think Natalie’s reaction to Old Caleb informing her that he will be sleeping in the same bed is fair?
What do you think of Natalie’s reaction to her orgasm with Old Caleb and her actions afterwards?
What do you think unsettled Mary and why do you think Mary didn’t want to tell Natalie?
With the other children, the differences and similarities are there, but do you think that Mary and Clementine are true clones of one another?
Natalie makes a decision to invest in herself instead of working on her husband. What do you think of her experience with Tammy Lane and the questions she has that are left unanswered? What do you think this says about the influencer community?
“People lie for all kinds of reasons. They lie to hurt people and to help people and sometimes because they can’t bear the truth” page 234. Do you think this is the most honest Natalie has been to anyone?
Towards the end of Chapter 36, Natalie’s curated life comes crashing down. What do you think of this moment?
12 responses to “Yesteryear Day Five”
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When we are first introduced to Old Caleb, we see his violent side. In Chapter 29, Old Caleb is gentler. Natalie says she used to pray for a man like Old Caleb. What do you think Natalie’s reaction to Old Caleb informing her that he will be sleeping in the same bed is fair? – Honestly, she is praying for her Caleb to be more like Old Caleb however she still tries to get away from him as well. She doesn’t know what she wants and it by seeing his aggressive side, I also think that if he was that aggressive, we would’ve slept with her in the same bed that same night. So, I think he is gentler than we think.
What do you think of Natalie’s reaction to her orgasm with Old Caleb and her actions afterwards? I think that might truly be her first that she ever experienced and I think with Old Caleb being a little more assertive actually was a good thing for her. Her actions afterwards just very much show she needs to be in control of every situation, and she still is not sure what situation she currently is in. So this is a narrative she doesn’t understand and doesn’t know how to control.
What do you think unsettled Mary and why do you think Mary didn’t want to tell Natalie? – The way she initially acted I think scared Mary. She didn’t want to send her down another spiral.
With the other children, the differences and similarities are there, but do you think that Mary and Clementine are true clones of one another? It seems that way, but I don’t think they are., The way she describes the kids are very different and in the Old Yesteryear she has less kids than in the present so that doesn’t seem likely.
Natalie makes a decision to invest in herself instead of working on her husband. What do you think of her experience with Tammy Lane and the questions she has that are left unanswered? What do you think this says about the influencer community? That it is at the end of the day very much superficial and that it only shows what you show to your community. It very much intimidating and deceitful.
“People lie for all kinds of reasons. They lie to hurt people and to help people and sometimes because they can’t bear the truth” page 234. Do you think this is the most honest Natalie has been to anyone? – Yes, and when I read that I think that resonates with almost everyone because it is very true.
Towards the end of Chapter 36, Natalie’s curated life comes crashing down. What do you think of this moment? – This was pretty telling. We all knew the glass castle has to break at some point, and it was interesting to see how she handles this moment.
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1. When we are first introduced to Old Caleb, we see his violent side. In Chapter 29, Old Caleb is gentler. Natalie says she used to pray for a man like Old Caleb. What do you think Natalie’s reaction to Old Caleb informing her that he will be sleeping in the same bed is fair?
The only thing this woman loves more than being in control herself is a man taking charge. She has issues for sure.
2. What do you think of Natalie’s reaction to her orgasm with Old Caleb and her actions afterwards?
Again, issues. Maybe she likes the version of him she fears more?
3. What do you think unsettled Mary and why do you think Mary didn’t want to tell Natalie?
She’s learned something about life beyond the borders she knows and understands, and she’s figuring out how to process that.
4. With the other children, the differences and similarities are there, but do you think that Mary and Clementine are true clones of one another?
No, I don’t think they’re exactly the same. I think Mary has a very narrow world view given her literal very small world. Clementine doesn’t know what an ocean is, but at least she knows Target. I also think Clementine has had the freedom to be a kid, while Mary has been made to work her whole life.
5. Natalie makes a decision to invest in herself instead of working on her husband. What do you think of her experience with Tammy Lane and the questions she has that are left unanswered? What do you think this says about the influencer community?
I thought this would be more freeing for her, but she didn’t open her mind enough. The course was very superficial, but she could have taken more from it. She is very literal… her audience is now her version of the people her mom pretends are watching her. There’s a lot of superficial rubbish in the influencer community, but Natalie is next level.
6. “People lie for all kinds of reasons. They lie to hurt people and to help people and sometimes because they can’t bear the truth” page 234. Do you think this is the most honest Natalie has been to anyone?
I think it’s the truth she needs to hear, but she thinks it applies more to others.
7. Towards the end of Chapter 36, Natalie’s curated life comes crashing down. What do you think of this moment?
It felt inevitable. I think anything that isn’t truly genuine has the potential, and likelihood even, to come crashing down.
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1. I would be terrified too! It’s one thing to pray for ‘her’ Caleb to be more assertive and traditionally masculine in his behaviour but entirely another thing to be forced to share a bed with a man who has hit you and blatantly intends to rape you. Perhaps we were meant to feel some kind of “haha that’s what you get” given Natalie’s belief that marital rape isn’t real but no. It didn’t feel like justified comeuppance to me. I felt bad for her. No one should have to go through that regardless of how terrible they are to others.
2. Relating the experience to communing with God is wild but also kind of understandable? She implies that when she had solo orgasms, pre-marriage, she equated them with feeling God’s touch, so the association was already there. But this was also a sexual experience she didn’t really consent to, even if she had an orgasm. I can see why a religious person might compartmentalize it as a spiritual reckoning, one of those ‘God doesn’t send you things you can’t deal with’ platitudes to get through it.
3. I think it had something to do with the broken plastic Natalie found earlier. Mary obviously doesn’t trust Natalie so I can see why she’d be unwilling to admit that she’s found evidence that corroborated Natalie’s story.
4. I’m not sure about “true clones” but I think Mary is proof that even if Natalie had raised Clementine utterly like the pioneers, they still wouldn’t be close. She’d still be chafing against Natalie’s need for control.
5. That was a deep cut on the influencer community. Tammy Lane is like every other self help/motivational speaker who makes the majority of their income peddling their 5-step plans and not so much money from actually living the life they’re selling. It also shows that while hard work and strategizing is a lot of success in social media, some of it is just blind luck such as going viral at the right moment, or being the first one on the scene in a specific niche. You can copy everything someone successful does and still not succeed if you don’t have an it factor.
6. I think that’s the most honest Natalie has been with herself, let alone anyone else. I was surprised to hear her admit she lies at all. She seems to have reframed all her untruths as innocent omissions, not actual lies.
7. It was a little maddening. Obviously, it was inevitable that Natalie’s singular focus on social media would take a toll on the kids. But it was infuriating that Caleb is so quick to criticize when she’s carrying the family financially. Why didn’t he make dinner or mind the kids while she worked? (Because he’s also all in the tradlife, I know, but ARGH! it just makes me what to scream. He’s so useless!)
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When we are first introduced to Old Caleb, we see his violent side. In Chapter 29, Old Caleb is gentler. Natalie says she used to pray for a man like Old Caleb. What do you think Natalie’s reaction to Old Caleb informing her that he will be sleeping in the same bed is fair?
This part was hard to read and it’s when I realised that there is actually no love in their relationship, it’s just about power at this point.What do you think of Natalie’s reaction to her orgasm with Old Caleb and her actions afterwards?
It made me think that it was the very first time she’s experienced one and it surprised her that it was “Old Caleb” that was capable of doing that to her. She felt like she lost some power and control that she usually thinks she has.What do you think unsettled Mary and why do you think Mary didn’t want to tell Natalie?
Mary has figured something out/knows something that she’s been told not to let Natalie know about.With the other children, the differences and similarities are there, but do you think that Mary and Clementine are true clones of one another?
I think they are different in appearance and age (I recall Natalie mentioning it in previous chapters) but similar personalities.Natalie makes a decision to invest in herself instead of working on her husband. What do you think of her experience with Tammy Lane and the questions she has that are left unanswered? What do you think this says about the influencer community?
It’s all smoke and mirrors and shows just how superficial the influencer scene and social media can be.“People lie for all kinds of reasons. They lie to hurt people and to help people and sometimes because they can’t bear the truth” page 234. Do you think this is the most honest Natalie has been to anyone?
There’s a lot of truth in that statement but I still don’t think Natalie feels it applies to her!Towards the end of Chapter 36, Natalie’s curated life comes crashing down. What do you think of this moment?
I think it was inevitable as the deep fake life took so much time and energy that Natalie didn’t even see it coming. -
1. I think her reaction is completely fair. Even though she admired qualities like his strength and competence, actually living in that reality is very different from romanticizing it.
2. I think it leaves Natalie feeling conflicted because it challenges the narrative she has built around herself and her marriage. It forces her to confront feelings she wasn’t expecting.
3. I think Mary sensed something was wrong but didn’t know how to explain it. She also seems protective of Natalie and may have been trying to shield her from more worry.
4. Not completely. They share many similarities, but their different environments and experiences have shaped them into distinct people.
5. I found it interesting because it highlights how much of influencer culture is built on appearances. There are often things happening behind the scenes that followers never get to see.
6. Yes. It felt like one of the few moments where Natalie wasn’t trying to manage how she was perceived and was speaking from a place of genuine self-awareness.
7. Ithought it was inevitable. Natalie has spent so much time controlling the narrative of her life that eventually reality was bound to catch up with her. It felt like a turning point for her character.
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1. I will never stop talking about how this book and its characters confused me because truly I don’t know how these characters really are and if what we get to know about them is true or not. There’s just so much that makes me question them individually and as a couple.
2. I think she didn’t like that she wasn’t in control. Given what she does next. I think that she is being hard on herself for not knowing “which Caleb” she likes.
3. I think Mary is getting to understand their lives and how they live and she knows not to ask or talk about it.
4. Not at all I think they are very different. They are however similar in that they hold a mirror to Natalie’s face.
5. Again she isn’t willing to be taught anything by literally no one and she goes through life wanting people to tell her what she wants to know. I think it showed how much goes on in the influencer space and how much things are sometimes manipulated.
6. Definitely. While I still think she made it seem like a general reality and not hers but I appreciated that she at least admitted it.
7. It shows both her and the reader that a fake life gets to a point where it all falls apart and you can only fake things to a certain point.
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1. I think her reaction is valid. She’s in this world that feels familiar but also different. Old Caleb is familiar to her, but she also doesn’t really know him and she doesn’t feel comfortable being in his presence.
2. I think it was the first time she was experiencing it because Old Caleb was who she’d wished for Caleb to be.
3. I think Mary saw something that made her question the things she’s been taught to believe.
4. I think Mary and Clementine share very similar features but since they were raised differently, they won’t be true clones of one another.
5. I think her experience with Tammy Lane shows how many people are wanting to enter to the space, that they’re willing to become who they audience would want them to be, instead of who they truly are. In the beginning of the book, we learn that Natalie thinks that she can do anything without the help of others, and even though she gets Tammy Lane’s help, she doesn’t actually take the advice.
6. Yes. Natalie has always said things that makes her seem more likable. Here, she doesn’t care how she’s perceived, she says it how it is.
7. I think she had it coming . When something is built off of a lie, it’ll eventually fall apart.
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1. Natalie says she used to pray for a man like him, I think this is a classic case of “be careful what you wish for.” She wanted a strong, traditional provider and leader, but the reality of living with a man who expected obedience and authority didn’t fit into her little box. She got what she thought she wanted, but not in the way she imagined. Wanting a traditional husband and experiencing the expectations that came with that role are two very different things.
2. I found Natalie’s reaction both amusing and revealing. It almost felt as though she had never experienced that level of intimacy or pleasure before, so she interpreted it as something deeply spiritual, almost like a miracle. At the same time, there was something unsettling about it, because she seemed unable to separate physical intimacy from faith and identity. Her actions afterwards showed that, despite the experience, she still wanted control over her body and her future. To me, the scene highlighted just how complicated Natalie’s relationship with marital relations, motherhood, and religion had become, and how disconnected she was from her own desires.
3. I think Mary saw something she couldn’t explain, or perhaps something frightened her so much that she didn’t want to talk about it. Mary has always struck me as observant and mature for her age, so I don’t think she kept quiet out of spite. Instead, it felt like she was trying to protect Natalie…or perhaps protect herself from something she wasn’t ready to understand. Her reluctance made me think that whatever she experienced unsettled her deeply.
4. I don’t think Mary and Clementine are true clones of one another. Mary is much more outspoken and mature. I think Mary lost her innocence when she was forced to take on the role of a mother and caretaker. Having so much responsibility placed on her made her grow up far too quickly, whereas Clementine was allowed to remain a child. Their similarities are striking, but their experiences shaped them into very different people.
5. I found it interesting that Natalie finally chose to invest in herself instead of trying to fix her husband. Her experience with Tammy Lane left me with more questions than answers. Tammy seemed to embody the perfect influencer life, but their conversation reminded me that social media only shows carefully curated moments. It made me wonder how much of what influencers share is real and how much is performance. Natalie was searching for answers and certainty, but I don’t think Tammy had those answers either. To me, it showed that even the people we admire or envy are often just figuring life out as they go.
6. I actually found Natalie’s statement a bit contradictory. While I agree that people lie for different reasons, I don’t think Natalie often lies to help others. Throughout the story, many of her lies and manipulations seem rooted in maintaining control or protecting the image she has built for herself, even when those choices hurt the people around her. That’s why I don’t think this is necessarily the most honest she has been. It felt more like Natalie recognizing a truth about people in general than truly confronting her own actions.
7. I think this was the moment the fantasy finally collided with reality. Natalie spent so much time curating the perfect life that she forgot real life is messy. The cracks were always there; she just refused to see them. Instead of feeling triumphant watching it all fall apart, I mostly felt sad. For all her flaws, Natalie built her entire identity around this dream, and watching it unravel felt like watching someone lose themselves.
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1. Fantasy is different than reality and in realtime this is a complete stranger to her. Yes, he might look like her husband but there is also no familiarity to him except that he looks like her husband. She is uncomfortable as she clearly has no control over this situation.
2. There is some clear confusion on the situation from her side physically and emotionally. Since Caleb was her first it was clear she has never experienced this type of intimacy and it is confusing that it was with Old Caleb.
3. Mary clearly saw something that she has no idea on how to handle the situation or what to think of it. Her reaction towards Natalie shows that whatever happened made her see Natalie in a different light.
4. Mary and Clementine feel more like alternate versions of one another than feeling like the same person. There are some striking similarities but other than that I feel they are their own person.
5. Unanswered questions at this stage is clearly part of the story. I found it interesting that Natalie eventually decided to focus on herself instead of Caleb. It clearly came to a point where she felt that she is the only one able to achieve the success that she strives for. And being an influencer and only being selective on what you show is right up Natalie’s lane.
6. Yes, I think out of everything that has happened that is the most truthful she has ever been.
7. It is clearly a turning point in her life and time for her to focus on reality instead of the life that she built as an illusion. -
1) I understand her fears because she barely knows this man. He is her husband but also not, and all she knows from him is violence.
2) I was really confused because at first she seemed to be in a lot of pain. Her actions afterwards were very strange but I guess it makes sense that she would not want to be pregnant here. It was still very disturbing to read about.
3) I think Mary saw something disturbing and it really upset her, I have no guesses as to what she saw yet. I dont think she trusts Natalie.
4) No, I don’t think they are clones but I do feel like Natalie’s feelings towards them are similar. She does not seem to like Clementine very much either.
5) I think that course was such a pyramid scheme and she did not really teach Natalie much. I think it shows how a lot of influencers are selling dreams and dont even really believe in what they are marketing.
6) Yes, definitely. It almost felt like a breakthrough until she started talking about the Lord and thinking that Mary is the Lord.
7) I think it shows that the life she thought she was living was different to reality. She thought she was perfect at being alive and got so wrapped up in that online image that her children were suffering
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1. From a survival standpoint for Natalie, old Caleb is a man who has already shown a capacity for intense violence, control, and physical abuse. Regardless of what she used to “pray for,” any person’s fear, hesitation, or negative reaction to an abusive figure asserting physical proximity and marital expectations in bed is completely justified and fair.
2.Natalie’s actions immediately following the encounter are entirely true to her character, instead of letting the experience shatter her, she immediately goes to work emotionally processing it as a divine test or a necessary transaction of the life she is building. Ultimately, her actions prove that Natalie is not merely a passive victim of her circumstances; she is an active, deeply cynical builder of her own prisons.
3. I think Mary keeps Natalie in the dark out of a mixture of survival instinct, deep resentment, she is fully aware that they have not magically traveled back in time to the 19th century. She understands that they are living in a strictly controlled, isolated nightmare created by her parents.
4. I believe the uncanny “clone-like” parallel between them is an intentional structural mirror created by the write to show how history and trauma repeat themselves on the ranch. Mary and Clementine are not literal clones, but rather siblings whose striking similarities are a result of the tragic, closed-loop psychological experiment they were forced into.
5. Natalie’s encounter proves that the closer she gets to the center of the influencer industrial complex, the more she is forced to realize that the digital facade she requires the total sacrifice of real-world intimacy, by choosing to work on her brand rather than her marriage, she unwittingly steps into a meat grinder that views her not as a woman, but as a content engine posied in perfection.
6. Yes, this is arguably the most profoundly honest Natalie is in the entire novel—but with a devastating catch: she is being completely honest, but she is directing that honesty at the wrong person, it is a heartbreakingly honest confession wrapped inside a dishonest life. It proves that Natalie is not entirely blind to what she is doing; she is simply a woman who has decided that a brutal, fabricated reality is preferable to an unbearable real one.
7. it serves as the ultimate breaking point for Natalie’s sanity. Confronted by an unbearable modern reality, a massive public lawsuit, her husband’s infidelity, her mother’s confession, and the complete destruction of her identity, Natalie cannot cope and we see the cracks she tries so hard to hide.
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1.Natalies reaction is totally valid as she doesn’t know old Caleb and she also loves to be in control so when he informs her of this she’s caught off guard and doesnt have much time to plan or come to terms with what is going to happen
2.It was quite a difficult scene to read but it shows us that Natalie is conflicted about herself and her emotions especially when it comes to her relationship with Caleb. She mentioned previously that Old Caleb is someone she has always prayed for so her orgasm makes sense as she is obviously attracted to Old Caleb. However, this reaction is conflicting for Natalie as she doesn’t really know how she feels about her marriage or her life so she instantly makes up a reason behind her actions.
3.Mary seems to have a soft spot for Natalie however, I do not think she fully trusts her. I think Mary did see something that confirms what Natalie has been saying all along and this scares her.
4.Mary and Clementine are not clones at all! However, maybe Natalie feels the same way about Mary as she does Clementine so that is why we as readers may mistake they are clones.
5.Tammy Lanes services are just a scam and the fact that Natalie has all those questions even after the course goes to show that Tammy is selling a whole lot of nonsense. The influencer community is fake and not at all true to themselves. They are all basically selling a lie.
6.Absolutely! So far we haven’t seen Natalie be honest so this scene was so sad.
7.Its a big realtiy check for Natalie. I think she found a way to cope with her reality by making up a fantasy in her head which bloomed into a whole fake persona, online. And well it got to a point where she was so blinded by this fake persona that she forgot about her reality and her poor children.
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