Search History is the first novel by Australian author, Amy Taylor. Needing a change of scene after a break-up with her boyfriend of four years, Ana quits Perth, much to the chagrin of her mother, and goes to live and work in Melbourne, where she knows no-one. She has intermittent contact with her father in Bali, and her mother is stubbornly silent.

She’s living a rather lacklustre existence: a tiny, dowdy flat, a mediocre job with a wanky boss and uninteresting colleagues, and no real social life. Her best friend Beverly is still in Perth: calls and texts really aren’t enough to keep them close. Her first foray into online dating is not a good experience. She is still stalking her ex’s social media accounts, analysing every photo and comment with forensic intensity.

When she encounters Evan in a pub, she’s immediately attracted, and it seems mutual. But even though they begin dating and progress to intimacy, Ana is disturbed that Evan shares so little of his past. After initially resisting the urge, she trawls his social media and discovers that his ex died some months earlier. She agonises over mentioning this, nervous of jeopardising this fledgling relationship.

She develops an unnatural, probably unhealthy, obsession with the dead woman, haunting her social media, constantly checking it, poring over photos, clips and comments, going to yoga at the studio where she taught. Meanwhile, mentally she rationalises Evan’s reticence about his ex.

Ana is an angsty twenty-eight-year-old who constantly second-guesses herself and overanalyses every word, gesture and facial expression, every nuance of communication, or lack thereof. Connecting with this protagonist will perhaps be easier for younger readers; others may well find her frustrating, wishing they could grab her by the shoulders and tell her “just live your own life!”

While certain aspects of the story are quite thought-provoking, it does drag a fair bit in the middle, and only some rather good twists at the end redeem it from a lower rating. Nonetheless, an impressive debut novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Allen & Unwin.