Fate has always conspired to drive Hatty and Monty apart.

High-flier Hatty has been hurt before and hopes that career success in New York is a safer bet than opening her heart. But when she distances herself from Monty, she realises he might be her soul mate.

Monty has loved Hatty from the start and yearns for a life with her. When he finds himself spiralling in the aftermath of the devastating tsunami, he is consumed by the search for his missing father and pushes her away.

When they find their way back to each other, they must confront the question; can true love endure the worst and still bloom, or is some hurt too deep to heal?

‘Searching is a novel that I needed to write for my own healing. Everyone who experienced the tsunami had a life before and after that tragic event. For most, I suspect, life after has been lesser in some way. But I wanted to create an old fashioned love story about two people who loved each other so much that they had the strength to endure the very worst.’

Searching pays homage to the healing power of loving relationships, through the story of Hatty and Monty who suffers PTSD following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Ian has drawn on the experience of working in the disaster zone after the tsunami and his subsequent depression and alcoholism, from which he is still healing today.