Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Read by David Morris

13 hours, 12 minutes

Published November 2025 by Atria Books

Publisher's Summary: 

One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn't explain much about where he came from or why he's there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person's story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.

My Thoughts: 

My book club does a book exchange every year at our Christmas party. This year, one of the women gave this book. I had never heard of it at that time, but a few weeks later I was hearing about it every where. Normally, you see me steering away from books that are all the rage; but because my friend seemed to have endorsed this one, I decided to give it a listen. 

• David Morris' reading is excellent. If you're one of the few people who haven't read this one yet, I highly recommend the audiobook option. 
• I was very much into the idea of this man wanting to gift the portraits and was really enjoying his interactions with each of the recipients. I loved that Theo met some wonderful people who he befriended, but also some others who were not so wonderful and some who were prickly.
• I was impressed with Levi's writing...except for his practice of overly describing the appearance of his characters. 
• At a certain point, this book moves away from the storyline of giving away the portraits and focuses more on the relationships Theo has made. Which is all well and good except that it felt like it happened abruptly. Perhaps Levi decided he had introduced enough characters to his story. 
• Something happens in the book, that I will not give away; but after that he feels like Levi reached the point where he decided he needed to tell not show and it seemed to me that the story began to drag on even as things began to tie up a little too tidily. 
• I did feel as though I was being emotionally manipulated at a certain point. 
• After all of that, did I like this one? Yes; and I would recommend it. I just didn't love it as much as so many others did. It would give book clubs a lot to talk about.