No Wonder People Like Theo of Golden!

Hope for a hard world

If you're a reader, you've probably heard people mention the book, Theo of Golden. The novel's growing popularity is a surprise to Allen Levi, the author who wasn't even going to publish it until his friends urged him to do so. Rather than go through the Herculean struggles of an unknown author trying to land an agent, (take it from someone who knows!), Levi decided to self-publish. With the help of his niece, in 2023 Levi put the book on Amazon, where it slowly gained traction.

Then, Levi started getting calls from agents and publishers. (Every writer's dream!) That's when he signed with Suzanne Gluck, a literary agent from William Morris Endeavor. Gluck sold Levi's book to Simon and Schuster, which purchased Theo of Golden for Atria Books, one of its book divisions.

From there, Theo became a New York Times bestseller, a featured pick of book clubs all over the nation, and many people's favorite recent read. This year, Theo of Golden hit the #1 spot on NYT list.

The plot:

Theo of Golden is about an older, monied, kind, and sophisticated gentleman who spends a year in Golden, Alabama, getting to know the townspeople, settling into an apartment above his friend's legal consulting business, and frequenting "The Chalice," a local coffeehouse.

"The Chalice" not only has GREAT coffee, but it also has amazing art hung on the walls. Ninety-two portraits of the locals done by a hometown artist named Asher fascinate and enchant Theo, who studies each one carefully every day when he gets his coffee.

Theo comes up with a plan. With the help of his friend, James Ponder, the legal consultant who has rented him an apartment, Theo discovers the names and addresses of each of the pencil-drawn portraits. He buys the pictures with the plan to "bestow" them on the recipient whose image is so beautifully captured. First, he writes them a handwritten letter introducing himself and explaining his intention. Then he invites them to meet him on the bench of the fountain at the center of the town, Golden.

And he does identify himself:

To make myself obvious, in case there are multiple exquisitely handsome 86-year-old men sitting there at the same time, I will be the one wearing a heather green flat cap."

How you can you not smile at that?

The charm of small-town characters

If you're an academic or a literary sort, you might remember a novel from the early 1900s called Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson, which explored the hidden lives of small-town characters. Theo of Golden did much the same, only we get their stories in bits and pieces, weaving together snippets of conversations from other characters and the bits of information that Theo gleans from the townspeople when he interacts with them.

While Theo is evasive in answering questions about his life, not even telling people his last name, he does admit that he grew up in Portugal near a beautiful river. He is skillful in diverting conversations and somehow drawing answers out of others, even the most reticent strangers he meets.

So what is it about this book, Theo of Golden?

It sounds so simple, doesn't it? You may be wondering what all the hype is about.

My theory is that simple is good. Theo of Golden is a lovely book, not packed with dense prose or complicated analogies. There are no hard-to-believe plot twists or mind-bending settings. Instead, it's a straightforward book about real people and their backstories. It's about kindness and connection; hardship and hurt; goodness and its impact on the lives of others.

To the few who say that the novel is "too sappy," I would want to ask them if they are natural pessimists and if they've ever had trouble containing their cynicism. If I had the chance to talk with them, I'd point out that there is plenty of evil in the book to keep it from being saccharine.

In a hard world, it's nice to read about kindness. What's the harm in trying to make amends for our past errors and reconnecting with people who matter to us? Theo of Golden is about reaching out a hand in friendship and fellowship to others. About finding a community and a family in a world that often isolates us from each other.

In addition to the "exquisitely handsome 86-year-old man" description Theo gives of himself, I was inordinately fond of the phrase used later in the novel, "ruthlessly good."

I freely admit I'm a sensitive, emotional person. But I really liked reading Theo of Golden because it was a book about faith and a man who believed in something bigger than himself. Tears fell while I read much of the last few chapters, and I savored the emotion behind these words:

"the obedient faith, the cheerful hope, and the generous love so beautifully visible."

Allen Levi's own interesting backstory

Levi is now nearing seventy. He has never married, believing that his single status allowed him to follow non-traditional career paths. He certainly did that. Levi was an attorney for ten years before deciding to give that up and go to Scotland, where he earned an advanced degree in Scottish fiction. After two years, he came back to the United States and combined his passion for music and singing/songwriting into a part-time gig supplemented by a part-time work as an attorney. Eventually, he gave up his legal work altogether to pursue his music. When his brother, Gary, got ill, Levi gave up his music to take care of his dying brother.

Interestingly, while he didn't intend it, Levi says that as the character of Theo began to take form, Theo began to take on the goodness of Gary, his deceased brother, a man who just loved people.

The Chalice coffeeshop in Theo of Golden is modeled after the coffee shop in Levi's hometown of Columbus, Georgia, which displays 92 portraits of townspeople.

Sequel in the works?

If you loved the novel, Theo of Golden, you'll be happy to know that Levi is working on a new book, Ellen of Golden, about the life of the interesting, intelligent homeless woman. Many people have also asked about the possibility of Theo of Golden becoming a full-length feature film. While Levi says that he saw the story unspooling that way in his head, he can't make any promises.

There are more than 600,000 commercially published books released each year in the United States. I read across multiple genres: historical fiction, detective thrillers, mysteries, an occasional romance, and even a fantasy or two, as well as biographies and non-fiction works. But I am glad I didn't miss this singular book about the power of kindness to dramatically affect the people around us.

It's nice to see that a simple, self-published book with a strong story can rise above the noise of the publishing world and get the attention of people like me who needed the warmth this book breathes into a harsh and divided world.

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