Search History

Selected as one of the Best Australian Fiction titles for 2023 by Readings Books

After Ana flees to Melbourne in the wake of a breakup, all she has to show for herself is an unfulfilling job and one particularly questionable dating app experience. Then she meets Evan. Charming, kind and responsible, Evan is a complete deviation from her usual type. Ana tries to let their relationship unfold IRL, but she can't resist the urge to find him online. When she discovers that his previous girlfriend, Emily, died in a hit and run, she begins to worry that she's living in the shadow of his lost love. Online, Evan and Emily's life together looked perfect—but just how perfect was it? And why won't he talk about it?

Perceptive and original, full of both pathos and humour, Search History explores the uncertainties of twenty-first-century romance. Ana's journey down the internet rabbit hole of modern dating asks the question: Which is our 'true' self—the one we show to the world online, or the one we keep to ourselves?

'[A] quick-witted debut novel . . . [Amy] Taylor writes in crisp and clever strokes . . . Search History is a light-hearted and earnest take on the challenges that courting has for those eager to hit search before the reply button.' — BOOKS+PUBLISHING

'Perfectly captures the tragedy and comedy that is living and loving online . . . with wit, humour and insight.' — DIANA REID, author of Signs of Damage

'A serious blend of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag and Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca with the pulse of modern day existence. Search History delivers a real, emotional and keenly heartfelt roller coaster. We can't help but root for Ana through her imperfections that are so endearingly perfect. She is all of us in our hilarious misfortunes and unexpected successes. She floats as does every word of this debut.' — WEIKE WANG, author of Rental House

'Amy Taylor's Search History is a razor-sharp and disturbingly familiar exploration of the way we live and look for love now. It made me want to delete my accounts.' — ISABEL KAPLAN, author of Not Safe For Work

'I squirmed in recognition on nearly every page of this witty, warm, and painfully honest novel. Ana's social media spirals and fear of vulnerability, her desire to construct an unblemished self both online and off, accurately reflects our ultra-modern anxieties. Search History begins as a novel of masochistic obsession before slyly transforming into a battle cry of radical self-acceptance.' — CAITLIN BARASCH, author of A Novel Obsession

'In her incisive and clever debut, Amy Taylor examines how the internet has transformed modern romance into a hall of mirrors. Search History is a novel brimming with humor, insight, and uncomfortable truths.' — ANTONIA ANGRESS, author of Sirens & Muses

'Sharp, elegant, wry, wonderfully nuanced, and insightful . . . a must-read for anyone interested in questions of love, relationships, and what it means to know another person in today's world of instant online gratification—or, really, to know anyone at all.' — JANE PEK, author of The Verifiers