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Saturday by Ian McEwan

Saturday takes place during the course of one day, February 15, 2003, and centers around a neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne, on his day off. Henry has a content life and on this Saturday, he makes love to his wife in the morning and leaves for his squash game. On the way there, while trying to dodge to large crowds protesting the coming war with Iraq, he sees an airliner on fire in the sky and has a minor automobile mishap with another motorist. The altercation leaves Henry feeling like something was amiss with the man, but the man feels humiliated by Henry. Into the happy life of this wealthy Londoner, malice and evil lurk at the edges and random events threaten to let it infiltrate his life. Capturing the essence of the day and the post-9/11 events that haunt the world, Ian McEwan, novel has received high praise. The Sunday Times says, "Saturday develops into a sinuously plotted drama conforming to the classical unities of time, place and action. It also includes a series of brilliantly vivid tableaux, in which McEwan slows or freezes the dramatic action to better emphasise the rituals of daily violence that surround, and sometimes even protect, our elusive experience of happiness. Artistically, morally and politically, he excels."