Welcome to Glorious Tuga
A Novel
-
- ¥1,500
発行者による作品情報
A bighearted page-turner set on a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean about love, community, and what it means to come home
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the immersive latest from Segal (The Innocents), a British woman ventures to the fictional South Atlantic island of Tuga, hoping to learn about her origins. At the outset, veterinary researcher Charlotte Walker plans to study the endangered gold coin tortoise species essential to the island's ecology. She also hopes to investigate her suspicion that her father, whom she never knew, came from Tuga. She travels by boat from England, and on her voyage she meets and falls for Tuga native Dan Zekri. Upon arrival, Charlotte discovers that Dan is engaged to a physiotherapist on the island. She tries to avoid Dan, paying more attention to her attractive host, Levi Mendoza, and his "distracting abdominals." She also encounters roadblocks to her research, such as from island elder Grand Mary, who bars Charlotte from viewing historic records in her personal library. Eventually, Charlotte secures access to the records in exchange for treating Grand Mary's cat and endears herself to others by helping with their pets and livestock. Tensions flare when she's torn between Dan and Levi, fueling island gossip. Though some of the plot points feel unresolved, Segal vividly portrays life in a close-knit community, where people like Charlotte are labeled FFA (Folk From Away). This is worth a look.
