In his triumphant new novel, Ian McEwan, the bestselling author of <i>Atonement, </i>follows an ordinary man through a Saturday whose high promise gradually turns nightmarish. Henry Perowne&#8211;a neurosurgeon, urbane, privileged, deeply in love with his wife and grown-up children&#8211;plans to play a game of squash, visit his elderly mother, and cook dinner for his family. But after a minor traffic accident leads to an unsettling confrontation, Perowne must set aside his plans and summon a strength greater than he knew he had in order to preserve the life that is dear to him.