Charlotte Walker has secretly accepted an opportunity to travel to the remote island of Tuga ostensively to study the gold coin tortoise but with the hope of uncovering details about a possible connection to the island. Francesca Segal paints a detailed and colourful picture of island life immersing you in all its tropical splendour.

I wouldn't normally go for a 'holiday read' but this was exactly the magical, warm-hearted escapism I needed to accompany me abroad this year. Highly recommended!

Welcome to Glorious Tuga is a wonderful book and I enjoyed every minute of it!
Tuga is an isolated island that is only reachable half of the year and only then after 4 weeks at sea. Arriving on the island are Charlotte, an uptight research vet there to study rare tortoises. She also has a suspicion her unknown father may be from Tuga. Dan, who grew up on the island but has been in London for 15 years doing medical training. He is returning to take over as the resident doctor but feels more like a stranger than a resident. Slowly the permanent residents and all their foibles are introduced to the reader as Charlotte and Dan.... and later Katie, Dan's fiancée try to find a place in island society. There are numerous plot twists, a hurricane and a death but on the whole the story is humorous and gentle and very easy to read. A lovely book I'm happy to recommend. I'll certainly be looking at reading other books by Francesca Segal.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Whilst I really enjoyed reading about the island and the people who live there, I did find the book a little all over the place. I wish it had stuck a little more to Charlotte’s story rather than jumping around to everyone opinions etc. it is a great story of escapism though, and I will definitely check out the next book.

A lovely, gentle book of a simple life in glorious Tuga with the characters vividly portrayed and involvements described.

Imagine being given the chance to spend a year on a tropical island, many miles from anywhere! Charlotte was really looking forward to having time and space for herself, researching the local tortoises, away from her mother. But she also had another objective - to find her father. It was a nice, relaxing read, following her journey trying to fit in with the locals, a bit of romance on the side as well. Good descriptive text about the island, its inhabitants and the way they live. Very enjoyable.

An excellent tale of the last outpost of the South Atlantic or wherever it is set.
The novel's main characters are superb, the imaginary island, its setting, inhabitants and culture are intriguing.
It is the island that no-one wants to go to, but no-one wants to leave.
I like the fact that although a complete tale was told there are enough loose ends for a follow up.
The interaction between Britain and the Tugans is an interesting set up, pretty much as the reader would imagine it if they had a furtile imagination.
Brilliant I loved it, I look forward to the follow-up and the film.
My thanks to the author for the hours of enjoyment that the book has brought me, I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It is hard to put into words exactly how this book made me feel. It is such a beautiful story, every character and setting so well thought out and developed. I found myself fully immersed in Tuga! I can see myself reading this book again and again just for the glorious escape from reality.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A heartwarming read about a zoologist, Charlotte, who jumps at the chance to study turtles on the extremely remote fictional island of Tuga. On the long voyage to Tuga, she meets Dan, returning home to Tuga after many years to take over his family’s role as chief medical officer. Turns out Dan is engaged so of course there’s a dash of “will they/won’t they” at the start after they immediately click on the trip over. But this novel turns into a lot more than that, talking about community & relationships in a unique place. Escapism and discovery for both Charlotte and the reader, this is a cozy, low stakes, easy read set amongst a wonderfully vivid location and a colourful cast of characters. 3.5 stars

Vet Charlotte Walker takes up the offer to study tortoises on the remote island of Tuga. Reptiles are her passion, but she has another motive. Charlotte believes the father she’s never met is from Tuga.

Francesca Segal has created a charming fictional island, filled with eccentric characters, in Welcome To Glorious Tuga. Tuga is a tiny British overseas territory, miles from anywhere, that is cut off from visitors for half the year. When you set foot on Tuga it is like being transported back in time – some say to the 50s but they are unsure if that’s the 1950s or the 1850s.

Despite the location and other drawbacks of Tuga, Charlotte Walker jumps at the chance of a year-long study of the tortoises native to the island. Charlotte is an introvert, better with animals than people, and focused on her study. She does, however, have an ulterior motive for visiting the island. Her mother has never disclosed to her the identity of her father. Just one small clue has convinced Charlotte that her father is Tugan.

During the long sea voyage to Tuga, Charlotte continually suffers from sea sickness. Luckily, one of the other passengers, Dan Zekri, is a doctor. Dan is from Tuga and is returning home after living in England. Over the course of the journey, a friendship is formed, and Charlotte has dreams that it could blossom into something more.

The island is populated by a host of engaging characters, some of whom are used to great effect to further the storyline. One of those characters is the island “bad boy” Levi. Charlotte is initially cold and unfriendly towards Levi, she sees him as rough and uncultured. Levi doesn’t have a high opinion of Charlotte either, seeing her as aloof and unfriendly. You can see immediately where this storyline is heading – will Charlotte end up with Dan or Levi?

While I found it easy to fall in love with Tuga and its inhabitants, I just didn’t warm to Charlotte; I didn’t really care about what happened to her. I also felt that the pacing was a bit erratic. Huge time jumps seemed to come out of nowhere, with little explanation. Characters such as Levi and Taki brought the story alive; for others, such as Grand Mary, I couldn’t see the point in why they had such a prominent role in the story.

I really really struggled to get into this book. I picked it up several times but just couldn’t connect with the characters.

I’m sorry to say that my first impression of this book being a very twee and predictable read was not wrong.
Still a good read, but the first 30% was really slow going and I found it very start stop,

A really proficient feel good read. I had hoped that it would be more in depth about a society that truly respects and cares for each other but it didn’t, a passing reference to humanism but not too much more. So although I enjoyed it I felt that it was not as meaningful as I had hoped.
However, as an easy to read, escapism novel it’s perfectly formed and of course leads you to want to read the next one!
Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

'Zoologist Charlotte Walker has taken up a fellowship on the tiny, remote 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 a secret that connects her to the island and has finally determined to solve the mystery...'

Rather like Charlotte arriving on Tuga, it took me a while to warm to this novel, but once I did I was completely enraptured. The islanders are delightful and I loved getting to know them, and while on the surface it's a cheerful and heart-warming book, again, rather like Tuga itself, there were hidden depths and complexities that I enjoyed discovering.

In both themes and tone, it reminded me of The Readers Of Broken Wheel Recommend (which I also loved). My only slight niggles were a couple of plot points that I felt could have been explained better (Joan knew about Charlotte, right?! This is hinted at but then not returned to), and what felt like a convenient choice to have the island be unpopulated when 'discovered', thus avoiding any need to grapple with the complexities of colonialism

“Welcome to Glorius Tuga” follows Charlotte as she’s moving to the remote island of Tuga de Oro to study turtles, but also find out the truth about herself. It’s a journey of self discovery and trying to find your place in the world.

I enjoyed this book, however I also found it quite messy. There were too many POV and it jumbled up the plot. Also we saw almost nothing of Charlotte’s research and I wished we focused more on that, than on the love triangle. There was a specific trope that I personally hate in this book, which definitely made me lower my rating, but considering it might be a spoiler I won’t get into it.

Overall I enjoyed the drama, but I wished we got more of Charlotte’s story rather than the mess that she caused and everyone’s opinion on it.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House UK for giving me the opportunity to read a review this arc.

My first impression was that this book was A very twee and predictable read.
Still a good read, but the first 30% was really slow going and I found it very start stop, I colluded easily put this down and not come back to it for a few days, once I got past the first half though I finished the rest of the book in one sitting.

The premise of this book is that the ‘glorious’ island of Tuga is a British protectorate, located somewhere where the boats can only call in at the right season and where life is lived at a slow pace. It is meant to be kind of idyllic and, at the start of the novel, Dan Zekri is returning to the island to take over it’s only medical practice from his ageing uncle when he meets up with his fellow passenger, Charlotte Walker, who has got a grant to investigate the small colony of giant tortoises on the island – but who also may have some other connections to the place.

Sparks fly but it turns out later that Dan has a fiancé, Katie Salmon, who is coming out on the next boat. There are other complications involving different islanders and their complicated relationships while Charlotte becomes accepted as the local vet and then starts to have a thing for Levi Mendoza, the barman and her landlord.

It’s difficult to keep tracks on these odd islanders who turn up at various times and once the love interest has cooled there’s a lot of them with funny relationships and then, at the end, the book sort of fizzles away.

I found it hard to get involved with this fantasy island, the people or the tortoises but I suppose it is a kind of escapism for some readers. However, it didn’t really work its magic on me.

Lovely cheerful book about Charlotte, a vet, who goes to the remote island Tuga to study turtles and find herself. On the voyage to the island, she meets Dan, the returning home to Tuga to become the chief medical officer when his uncle retires. The book tells the story of both Charlotte and Dan learning how to adapt to island life. There are lots of great characters on Tuga, each with their own secrets and dreams. I especially liked Elsie, Marianne, Levi, Annie and Alex. Recommended

I'm definitely in the minority with this read. I wanted to love it but I really struggled to get through it. I didn't really like any of the characters and didn't find the love stories particularly believable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Tuga is indeed glorious, from its cast of eccentric, caring and culturally committed locals to the FFA's and their experiences in finding their feet again.
With a little bit of gentle intrigue, a little bit of not too dramatic drama and a lot of love that leaps off the pages it is easy to imagine yourself disembarking from the boat for Island Open!
It is a clever author who can envelop you in their setting to the point you can feel the sand and taste the coconut water.