Annemarie Neary

A wartime love story that takes place mostly in Ireland at the beginning of WWII. A love affair that starts in Berlin between neighbors, Elsa and Oskar but war gets in the way and Oskar is conscripted into the Luftwaffe. Elsa eventually ends up separated from her parents and sent by Kindertransport and relocated to Ireland for her safekeeping. Oskar is disillusioned by the war and just wants to find Elsa after he finds out she is gone from her home.

Other characters include Kitty, a young Irish woman who lives with her mother but is looking for excitement in her life. She finds a parachute hanging from a lime tree and is not quite sure what to make of it but she does know that there is someone who was at one time attached to that parachute. Oskar has jumped out of the plane hoping to land in Ireland so he can continue to locate Elsa. Charlie is a a young medical student who meets Elsa and falls in love with her. As war continues around all four of these young people, they never know what may happen day to day.

A Parachute in the Lime Tree is a wonderful, poignant story, written in such a way that the reader can feel the emotions that abound between all the characters involved. A well researched tale of love, war, exile in uncertain times. I highly recommend it.… (mere)