I see a pattern. Do you?

• In the Wolf’s Mouth by Adam Foulds – Africa & Sicily, Post-WWII
• The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry – 1950 Ghana remembering WWII
• The Undertaking by Audrey Magee – Germany WWII
• The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis – setting implies Germany 1940s WWII

• A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie – England, Turkey, India – WWI
• Arctic Summer by Damon Galgut – England, Cairo, India – 1912 (unclear from reviews if/how much WWI figures into the story)
• Mac and Me by Esther Freud – England WWI
• The Lie by Helen Dunmore – WWI France; Post-WWI Cornwall
• The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters – 1922 England, Post-WWI
• Wake by Anna Hope – England Post-WWI

• The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak – 1600s Turkey
• The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton – 1600s Amsterdam
• Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre – 1600s England

• The Ten Thousand Things by John Spurling – 1300s China

• The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth – England Post-1066

Observations:

1. Western writers and readers obviously still can’t get enough of WWI and WWII.
2. The 1600s remains a popular era.
3. The context of war is fertile soil for story.

Publishing note: The Wake by Paul Kingsworth appears to have been originally published in 2014 by a crowdsourcing process. See:

http://unbound.co.uk/books/the-wake

Can you guess which just jumped to the top of my TBR list?