"Theo of Golden" Book Review

Sometimes you start a book and everything electrifies as you flip the pages, thinking: This one will stick with me for a long time. Sometimes you can tell an author’s tender heart toward people by how they write an unassuming character larger than life. Sometimes a book doesn’t need a wild plot to hold your attention, or change you.

Allen Levi wrote just such a book. Taking away the fact that his path to publication is unheard of in publishing - and inspiring - he wrote a book meant to be savored. It has notes of classics and the unfolding lyrical narrative of literary fiction. Theo of Golden begins with our main character, naturally named Theo, arriving in the small Georgian town of Golden. 

After seeing portraits in a local coffee shop, he decides to begin gifting them to the people drawn inside the frame. We don’t know Theo’s past, which is kept hidden till the end. (And truly floored me . . .) We don’t know why he cares about this place or why he wants to give all these people a second of his time. 

And we don’t need to. 

Readers get to walk alongside the people changed by Theo’s presence. We get to fall in love with their pasts, their humanity, their dreams,and their reasons for living. We witness an artist's hopes, a musician’s journey, a custodian’s love, a CPA’s courage, a homeless woman’s heartbreak and more in this novel; it removes the curtain to show how humans were always supposed to interact.

Theo of Golden lets fiction do its work in drudging up the humanity in us. Allen Levi  does not shy away from the roughness of life, but surprisingly showcased the Light in a way most modern novels are afraid to. 

Here we find a Christian character truly seeing people as we are supposed to. Yet, 

Allen Levi took pains to make him real. Theo is not perfect, or blind to the world, but he actively presses toward giving goodness. One can feel the awe and respect this author has toward Biblical teachings. Being a Christian, I am thrilled to see Bible stories talked about in secular novels, and Christian characters portrayed well. 

As I stated previously, this novel feels like literary fiction; it does not rely on fast plot, but the characters and the unfolding mystery of: “Who is Theo?  What happened to him to cause such generosity and seclusion? Why does he care about these strangers?

And what was more profound for me, it begs us to look at the people around us and view them in a whole new way. As C.S. Lewis said, “You have never talked to a mere mortal.” 

This is the driving factor of this novel. 

Theo of Golden dares us to see reality in its story; it dares us to love deeper, care more, and slow down to make that one person know how important they are. It shows us how one small act of kindness can have a ripple effect to touch countless lives. Our world needs a book that forces us to slow down and remember what’s important. 

Allen Levi accomplished it. “Floored” was one of many words that came to me when I closed the book. 

It is beyond safe to say, I will keep my eye out for more to come from Mr. Levi.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another". ~ John 13:35