Review by Booklist Review
After years of a quiet, reserved existence, newly minted veterinarian Charlotte Walker sets off on the adventure of a lifetime when she accepts a fellowship to study the endangered gold coin tortoises that inhabit remote Tuga de Oro. Located in the south Atlantic, Tuga de Oro is far away from the hectic London life Charlotte knows, and she views the opportunity as a way to do important conservation work as well as explore a possible mystery about her parentage. From the start, her expectations don't match reality. She has little time to conduct her research, as the islanders implore her to provide veterinary services to the many pigs, dogs, birds, and other animals that live on the island, and Charlotte soon discovers that her habit of keeping people at arm's length won't work on Tuga. Populated by a fully rendered, vibrant cast of characters, this warm, witty novel explores what it means to be part of a community. Highly recommended for fans of Amy Poeppel and Meg Mitchell Moore and of bighearted novels about belonging.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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. Agent: Zoe Waldie, RCW Literary. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Fresh out of veterinary school and fleeing after a fight with her mother, Londoner Charlotte Walker accepts a research grant to study endangered tortoises on the remote South Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro. Miserable and seasick, tended to by the handsome young doctor who is returning home after years abroad, Charlotte is also hoping to find answers about her father, who she believes lives on Tuga. Once she gets to the island, she realizes that the tortoises are not the only creatures who need her veterinary care--the island's goats, dogs, and donkeys need her as well. And then there are the Tuga residents, who welcome her with cake and jam in the hope that she will decide to stay on the island permanently. Told through multiple narratives, Segal's (The Awkward Age) latest novel, the first in a planned trilogy, seamlessly blends the past with the present. As secrets unfold and destinies intertwine with humor and warmth, Segal shows readers what it means to come home. VERDICT For fans of James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small or anyone looking for an engrossing and heartwarming book to enjoy in one sitting.--Terri Lent
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A young veterinarian travels to a distant island to study tortoises and finds more than she'd bargained for. In her latest novel, Segal has whipped together a fictional island, Tuga, "the size of an English county," that is its own "miniature world, a British Overseas Territory…founded on the principles of compassionate collectivism by a series of deliberate arrivals, terrible calamities and happy accidents." The book starts with a young research veterinarian, Charlotte Walker, sailing from London to Tuga for a fellowship to study the endangered gold coin tortoises native to the island. She gets off to a rocky start: There's overwhelming seasickness, for one thing, and, for another, the handsome young doctor she meets on the ship turns out to be not quite as available as he'd first presented himself. But once Charlotte gets used to the "bugs and creepy crawlies and biting things, and the terrifying isolation and claustrophobia when all around the sea roiled and there was no way on or off, just water and sky and the purgatorial emptiness of that unbroken horizon," she quickly finds herself falling in love with both the island and its inhabitants. As a reader, it's hard to resist falling in love right alongside Charlotte. Instead of driving, island residents get around by catching a ride on a donkey; there's also a single taxi driven by a man who calls himself "Taxi," who also serves as the only radio announcer. Then there's a pair of prepubescent best friends, Annie and Alex, who run roughshod over the island and whose devotion to each other is sweetly moving. Charlotte soon finds herself enmeshed in much more than she'd bargained for--including the mystery of her own paternity. If the book has any flaws, it's that not every character has been fully fleshed out--some of the more minor personalities can seem a bit flat. But the primary joy of this delicious book is still in getting to know the island's peculiar characters, whom Segal treats with a gentle, quirky sort of amusement. A summery read packed tight with quirky characters and their ongoing foibles. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
