Book 69: "A Patchwork Planet" by Anne Tyler
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 06:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeThen a hand arrived on my arm, so light it took a moment to register, and I turned and found Sophia smiling into my eyes. It was the most serene and radiant smile, the most seraphic smile. "Goodbye, Barnaby," she said, and she dropped her hand and walked away.
I never did explain her presence to Natalie. I honestly don't know what I would have said.
The story of Barnaby Gaitlin, the black sheep son of a rich Baltimore family, who works for a company called Rent-a-back, which does the jobs that its elderly clients can't manage for themselves, no matter how small. I loved the descriptions of Barnaby's clients, such as "Over her forearm she carried a Yorkshire terrier, neatly folded like a waiter's napkin", and "Dirt was her personal enemy. Let her catch sight of a cobweb and she would not rest until she had killed it dead", and I think that every city could do with having a Rent-a-back.
I never did explain her presence to Natalie. I honestly don't know what I would have said.
The story of Barnaby Gaitlin, the black sheep son of a rich Baltimore family, who works for a company called Rent-a-back, which does the jobs that its elderly clients can't manage for themselves, no matter how small. I loved the descriptions of Barnaby's clients, such as "Over her forearm she carried a Yorkshire terrier, neatly folded like a waiter's napkin", and "Dirt was her personal enemy. Let her catch sight of a cobweb and she would not rest until she had killed it dead", and I think that every city could do with having a Rent-a-back.
