The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

Emily and Chip Linton move with their twin girls to a Victorian house in a small town in New Hampshire after Chip's plane crashes, killing thirty-nine people. The family hopes that this move will help Chip recover from his dreams and nightmares, and they look forward to a fresh start for the family. After they move in, Chip discovers a strange door in the basement with thirty-nine carriage bolts, and they learn that many of their neighbors are herbalists with greenhouses. The women in the town pay special attention to Hallie and Garnet, the twin daughters.

This is a ghost story and will keep you turning the pages, but it is also about the demons that haunt us in our own lives. Chris Bohjalian has written many other excellent books such as Midwives and The Double Bind.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

The story of The Lotus Eaters unfolds during the fall of Saigon as America is pulling out of the Vietnam War. The story centers around Helen Adams, a female freelance photographer, and the men in her life. The book begins near the end of the story as we see Helen and her Vietnamese husband attempt to escape from the chaos of a city in ruins. The story then goes back years to Helen's arrival in Vietnam as a novice photographer, and we meet Sam Darrow, another photographer addicted to the violence and war around him.

This is an unforgettable story, and Soli's beautiful prose will leave you thinking about the book long after you have closed the last page. This is an ideal choice for book clubs.