Barnaby Gaitlin works for Rent-A-Back, a private company supplying labor to perform chores for the elderly and infirm people of Baltimore. Barnaby has no interest in his parents' wealth, but he does have an interest in one family tradition--that of finding a personal angel. While enroute to Philadelphia to visit his daughter Opal, he encounters a suspicious situation involving a woman named Sophie and thinks that she just might be his personal angel.

A Patchwork Planet is a story of Baltimore and some of its inhabitants. Frequently mentioning streets and places in and around the city, the author delves into the life of one of its young men. This is a rather mundane fellow whose life is not all that interesting. Yet the author is able to capture the flavors of Barnaby as a person and those people who are part of his life. What's missing from the author's story is the "bite" of an exciting plot. Despite that drawback, she captures the nuances of everyday life--those small tensions that bubble beneath the surface of family relationships and friendships. A story of conversations, modest expectations, and family irritations, the author delivers a low key, down-home sort of tale.