Saturday

About “Saturday”

Saturday is a novel by Ian McEwan, published in 2005. It is set within a single day in February 2003 and follows Henry Perowne, a successful neurosurgeon who is content with his life. He is happily married and has good relationships with his children. On this day off, he wakes in his large home in central London. The world outside is tense, with an impending war against Iraq and a general sense of pessimism following the attacks on New York and Washington two years earlier. Perowne attends a squash game and avoids marchers protesting the war. He has a minor car accident and confronts a young man, whom he notices is behaving strangely. This encounter leads to dangerous consequences that test Perowne's skills as he works to protect his family.