Saturday characters

Appears from the start

A successful London neurosurgeon in his late forties. He is disciplined, observant, and accustomed to explaining behavior through the workings of the brain. During a single Saturday, disturbances in the city and an accidental confrontation test his confidence that professional skill and an orderly family life can keep danger at a distance.

Appears from the start

Henry's wife, a newspaper lawyer. Her demanding career has not weakened the warmth of their marriage, and Henry thinks of her as the emotional center of their household.

Appears from the start

Henry and Rosalind's adult daughter, a poet who is returning from Paris with the first copies of her newly published collection. She is politically engaged and often argues with her father, especially over the approaching war in Iraq.

Appears from the start

Henry and Rosalind's teenage son, an accomplished blues guitarist preparing for an evening performance. Music gives him an absorbing vocation and a perspective less argumentative than either his father's or his sister's.

Appears from the start

Rosalind's father, a celebrated poet living in France. He is proud, competitive, and a powerful influence on Daisy's writing, although their shared vocation also gives them reasons to quarrel.

Appears from the start

Henry's elderly mother, once a strong competitive swimmer and now living in residential care with advanced dementia. Henry's visits confront him with a decline that even his medical knowledge cannot reverse.

Appears from the start

An American anesthetist who works with Henry and is also his regular squash opponent. Their friendship includes intense competition on the court and practiced cooperation in the operating theatre.

First appears in chapter 2

A young man whose car has a minor collision with Henry's near the anti-war march. Aggressive and volatile in front of his companions, he also shows small involuntary movements that Henry recognizes as possible signs of a serious neurological disorder.

First appears in chapter 2

One of the men accompanying Baxter after the traffic collision. His presence strengthens the threat facing Henry during what began as an ordinary exchange of insurance details.