Review: A Parachute in the Lime Tree by Annemarie Neary

Title: A Parachute in the Lime Tree
Author: Annemarie Neary
Format: Paperback
Publisher: The History Press Ireland
Publish Date: March 12, 2012
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You love a good love story.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "April 1941, neutral Ireland. Kitty awakes in remote Dunkerin to find a German parachute caught in one of the trees in her garden. When she discovers Oskar, injured and foraging for food in her kitchen, he becomes a rare and exciting secret. But Ireland during the Emergency is an uneasy place, and news of the parachute soon spreads."

My Two Cents:

All of Europe is in an uproar during World War II. Neutral Ireland is stuck in the middle. Somewhere in Ireland, Kitty looks out her window to see a parachute stuck in a tree outside of her house. What follows will change the her life as well as the lives of everyone else involved.

This is a great story for anyone who likes their historical fiction with a side of romance and a bit of mystery. There is the unrequited love and fascination between Kitty and Oskar. There is the true love between Elsa and Oskar. Then there is the love between Charlie and Elsa. Love entanglements are always a favorite of mine. It was so interesting to see how everything panned out for each of the characters. The endings are not necessarily all happy but you do get to know what happens to the characters in the end and I really like closure. A lot of times you don't get that, which always leaves me wondering about what happened to the characters in the end.

The historical detail and setting of the novel are great. Before this book, I didn't really understand what Ireland's position was during World War II. This book definitely gave me a lot of insight into that. Readers will also get to learn a little bit about the Kindertransport, which I thought was super interesting. Elsa ends up in Ireland because of the Kindertransport. I guess whenever I had thought about Kindertransport, I thought it was mostly for younger children but Elsa is 17. It was really interesting that older teens were evacuated as well; I never knew about that.

I liked the writing in the book. I wish that there would have been a little more background information on the characters so that we could understand the various motivations a little more. Neary does description really well though, which definitely pulled me right into the middle of the story.

Bottom line: Good, character-driven Historical Fiction!