AustLit

'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)