I switched between reading and listening to this one, simply because I had so much stuff to do in the garden and I really wanted to finish it. It was gorgeous, in fact no, it was 'glorious'! Charlotte takes up the position of tortoise researcher on the remote island of Tuga, where you can only come and go when the island is 'open'. Even then, only if there is a boat with enough berths to take you. For half the year, the island is 'closed'. The storms are too frequent for it to be safe for any ship to dock safely in Tuga. So if you're there, you're stuck - no matter what happens!
There are a lot of stories, interwoven into this book, each one unique in its own way, and I loved this. I enjoyed hearing about all the different characters and how they were surviving, living on such a small island, where everyone knows everyone else's business. I'm not sure if I'd like that, where do you go to escape?!
If you fancy a mash-up of The Durrells, James Herriott and a gorgeous sun-soaked island, then I'd recommend reading this, the first in a new series.
Thank you to Vintage Books for the gifted copy of Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal.
About the Book
Passionate about conservation and fleeing an argument with her mother, newly qualified London vet Charlotte Walker has taken up a fellowship on the tiny South Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro to study the endangered gold coin tortoises in the jungle interior. She can claim the best of reasons for this year in paradise—What better motivation than to save a species?—but the reality is more complex. For Charlotte has secretly come to believe that she has her own connection to this remote and eccentric community, and she is finally determined to solve the mystery that has dominated her life.
But she will have little time for any of her declared or covert investigations. She is inconveniently attracted to the new island doctor. And not only do Tuga’s tortoises need attention but so too do the island’s dogs, goats, and donkeys—not to mention the islanders themselves, determined to win Charlotte over with cake and homemade jam until she relents and becomes vet to all their animals.
A complete, vivid world unto itself, Welcome to Glorious Tuga is a bewitching combination of warmth and humor. Immersive and uplifting, it transports the reader to an island that time forgot, bringing to life a cast of flawed, loveable people, like a contemporary James Herriot beneath the coconut palms.
About Francesa
Francesca Segal is an award-winning writer and journalist. She is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, The Innocents (2012) and The Awkward Age (2017), and a memoir of NICU motherhood, Mother Ship (2019). Her writing has won the 2012 Costa First Novel Award, a Betty Trask Award, and been longlisted for the Women's Prize.
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