Saturday

Ian McEwan

9/4/2005

Henry Perowne is a successful neurosurgeon in London. It is Saturday, February 15, 2003, the beginning of his weekend. He wakes at 3 AM and is staring out the window when he sees a plane on fire heading into Heathrow. This is the beginning of an innocuous Saturday that became very eventful in the Perowne family.

There is a large anti-Iraq war march in London this day. His wife, Rosalind, is a lawyer working with a newspaper. She will have to work today. His daughter, Daisy, is visiting home from her college in Paris. She has a volume of poetry that will be published and she wants to show off the proofs. His son, Theo, is a blues guitarist. Henry will be drop by Theo's practice today. Henry also has his weekly squash game scheduled and a visit to his mother in the nursing home. This evening his father-in-law will be visiting since he is going to be in England.

Henry considers his life throughout his day - world politics and their influence on him, his wife, his daughter, his son, his mother, his father-in-law, his job, and his patients. He knows he is very lucky to be in love with one woman who also is his wife. Daisy keeps trying to increase his reading and knowledge. Theo has realized that college is not for him and is creating a strong niche in his music world. Of course things aren't perfect - perhaps this evening will reconcile Daisy and her grandfather. Henry's mother will not know he is visiting, but he knows. He wants to comfort himself by speaking with Rosalind after a minor car mishap and show down with a group of thugs, but she is tied up in court. Henry doesn't know how this day will build up to an explosion that couldn't be foreseen.

This is a quiet novel until the final build up - even then it retains its eveness despite the ugliness. Perowne is a complex character and the reader follows his thoughts and actions all of the Saturday. When the Saturday finishes, he will have learned more about himself, his family, his work, and the strength of the human spirit.

Although quiet, it keeps the reader pulled right in. Henry Perowne is an educated man who is settled comfortably in his life, knowing his own strengths and blessings. His thoughts reflect his doubts and his successes. His thoughts reveals the question every person has - who am I, really, and what is my place in the world? Henry Perowne's thoughts make the reader consider his or her own thoughts. Ian McEwan has an insightful novel here that is an easy read without turning into fluff. Enjoy.

You can find more about this book at .

Notice: Non-explicit sexual situations