Originally published in Malayalam, in June 2021, Valli is Sheela Tomy’s debut novel. It’s being translated into English by Jayasree Kalathil. According to Financial Express, it’s about the hill district of Kerala nestled in the Western Ghats, which faces an environmental catastrophe. HarperCollins states:
Spanning the time between the 1970s and the present, Valli is a tale of four generations who made this land their home. It is told through a diary that Susan – the daughter of two teachers, Thommichan and Sara, who eloped to Wayanad so that they could live together – leaves for her own daughter, Tessa.
And in telling their story, Valli tells us stories of the land and its people, of interdependence and abuse, repression and resistance, despair and contentment – stories as vast and magical as the forest itself once was.
