Wow, that was unusual. I can’t remember the last time I’ve read fiction, but this was a strong recommendation from a good friend so I gave it a try. It sucked me in and was hard to put down. Finding the time for it has been a struggle though, so it took a few months to finish. Glad I did, though.
The book details a full Saturday (ah!) of a middle-aged upper-middle-class neurosurgeon living in London. Surely it’s not a usual Saturday and a lot happens, but big parts are just him running errands and reflecting on it all. Henry Perowne is a richly written character with a colorful and interesting family (wife, two artistic kids, demented mother, alcoholic poet father-in-law). Good parts of his day reminded me of my own life, running errand after errand on a free Saturday to make sure everyone in the family is happy. It did not bore me at all. I felt reminded of the American Beauty movie and projected a sort of depressed state (midlife crisis?) onto him which I later realized wasn’t really there at all. Worth reading.
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