AUSTRALIAN Debut Out Now
THE DAYS TOPPLED OVER
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...
“A powerful Australian debut.”
— Melanie Kembrey, The Booklist
“With vivid characters and big heart, it speaks to the precarious existence of international students: a skyrocketing demographic seen as cash cows by a country which is leaving them hungry, homeless and at risk.”
— Steph Harmon, The Guardian, Best Australian Books in June
About VIDYA
Vidya Madabushi is an Indian writer living in Sydney. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Sydney, and her first novel, Bystanders, was published in India in 2015. Bystanders was shortlisted for the Tibor Jones South Asia Prize, and a previous version was longlisted for the Australian Vogel Award. In 2018, Vidya received the Writing NSW Grant for Fiction for the creation of this novel. The Days Toppled Over is her Australian debut.
IN THE MEDIA
The Days Toppled Over is an emotional rollercoaster, illuminating an essential narrative on migration and the struggle of international students who are so often invited with open arms to study in Australia, only to face a very different reality once they arrive.
Madabushi’s debut offers a much-needed opportunity for some readers to feel seen and for others to have their perspectives challenged. Aniko Press October 13, 2023
The Days Toppled Over is an emotional rollercoaster, illuminating an essential narrative on migration and the struggle of international students who are so often invited with open arms to study in Australia, only to face a very different reality once they arrive.
Madabushi’s debut offers a much-needed opportunity for some readers to feel seen and for others to have their perspectives challenged.
“The Days Toppled Over by Vidya Madabushi review – the plight of Australia’s international students” - The Guardian, 30 June 2023
At a time in Australia when many of us feel smothered by rising interest rates, inflation and corporate greed, this rings with a depressingly contemporary truth – and yet Madabushi’s second novel is not the average Australian’s story.
‘Sinister’, ‘bonkers’, ‘meta’: the best Australian books out in June- The Guardian, 13 June 2023
Vidya Madabushi’s lively debut flits between Surya and Malli’s narration as we follow her journey to Sydney to find him – and learn from him what has happened. With vivid characters and big heart, it speaks to the precarious existence of international students: a skyrocketing demographic seen as cash cows by a country which is leaving them hungry, homeless and at risk.
Vidya Madabushi on the migrant experience in Australia and her new novel 'The Days Toppled Over'- The ABC, 11 July 2023
Vidya Madabushi’s new novel ‘The Days Toppled Over’ unravels the complex systems that lead to the exploitation of international students in Australia, through a heartening story about family, success and the migrant experience.
Previous books by Vidya
BYSTANDERS
Growing up in the small town of Sripuri, six-year-old Hari believes his mother died from tuberculosis. It's what his father, Vasan, has always told him. But when Hari seeks more answers from his distant yet affectionate father, who, between his meditation classes, dietary experiments and constant headaches, has little time for Hari, he soon realizes that he is trespassing on forbidden territory. And then a couple arrives at their doorstep, claiming to be his real parents. Hari's life takes a course over which he has no say.
