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'Malli has an anxiety disorder that renders her unable to speak outside her own home. The highlight of her life is a long-standing weekly phone call with her younger brother, Surya, who is studying in Australia, and whose updates bring colour to her days. When Surya misses their weekly call for the first time, Malli’s quiet life is thrown into disarray.
'Seeking answers online, Malli is grateful when a user on a missing persons forum, Nayan, offers to help. As days pass without word from Surya, Malli decides she must travel to Australia to find out what has happened to him, and the unconventional and outspoken Nayan offers to accompany her.
'In Sydney, student life is less glamorous and more precarious than Surya had imagined. At the restaurant where he lives and works, Surya feels he can endure the squalid living conditions and the abysmal pay if it will secure him the elusive work visa which will allow him to stay in the country. But when a racist customer up-ends the knife-edge hierarchy at the restaurant, it sets off a chain of events that will see Surya committing a reckless act of love, risking everything for which he has worked so hard.
'Set between Bengaluru and Sydney, The Days Toppled Over is a powerful exploration of mental health, family, connecting and how international students live in Australia. With a rich sense of place, a memorable cast of characters, and a good dose of humour, it illuminates how we all need friends and contact with other humans – and how these simple things can result in transformation.'(Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
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Vidya Madabushi : The Days Toppled Over
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , November 2023;
— Review of The Days Toppled Over 2023 single work novel 'Exploitative work and striving for a visa: Vidya Madabushi’s novel highlights the plight of international students in Australia.' -
Vidya Madabushi The Days Toppled Over
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 24-30 June 2023;
— Review of The Days Toppled Over 2023 single work novel'The Days Toppled Over is about isolation and bonds forged through non-familial companionship. Vidya Madabushi’s protagonist, Malli, is reticent, as if she were conceived during the restrictions of the pandemic. Her world is confined to the Vanavas Retirement Village in Bangalore, India, where she lives nearby her mother’s friend, Mrs Munshi. She is unable to speak outside her home; only her brother Surya and deceased parents have heard her utter a word. When Surya – who’s studying in Sydney – misses their regular call, Malli gets worried. Fearing the worst, she fights the reclusiveness that has governed her life and heads to Australia in search of him.' (Introduction)
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The Days Toppled Over by Vidya Madabushi Review – the Plight of Australia’s International Students
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 30 June 2023;
— Review of The Days Toppled Over 2023 single work novel'This eye-opening novel follows an Indian woman’s search for her missing brother in Sydney'
-
The Days Toppled Over by Vidya Madabushi Review – the Plight of Australia’s International Students
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 30 June 2023;
— Review of The Days Toppled Over 2023 single work novel'This eye-opening novel follows an Indian woman’s search for her missing brother in Sydney'
-
Vidya Madabushi The Days Toppled Over
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 24-30 June 2023;
— Review of The Days Toppled Over 2023 single work novel'The Days Toppled Over is about isolation and bonds forged through non-familial companionship. Vidya Madabushi’s protagonist, Malli, is reticent, as if she were conceived during the restrictions of the pandemic. Her world is confined to the Vanavas Retirement Village in Bangalore, India, where she lives nearby her mother’s friend, Mrs Munshi. She is unable to speak outside her home; only her brother Surya and deceased parents have heard her utter a word. When Surya – who’s studying in Sydney – misses their regular call, Malli gets worried. Fearing the worst, she fights the reclusiveness that has governed her life and heads to Australia in search of him.' (Introduction)
-
Vidya Madabushi : The Days Toppled Over
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , November 2023;
— Review of The Days Toppled Over 2023 single work novel 'Exploitative work and striving for a visa: Vidya Madabushi’s novel highlights the plight of international students in Australia.'
- Sydney, New South Wales,
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cIndia,cSouth Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,