This book was a major change of pace coming off of Never Flinch, but that was a good thing! I went looking around for highly rated new(ish) books that I’ve never heard of, saw the name Theo, and decided this was the one.

For the longest time, I was mentally describing this book as mysterious and charming, and while those descriptions still hold strong now that I’ve finished it, there is also an ultimate sadness that permeates throughout.

If you’ve stumbled upon this page and haven’t read this book yet, don’t read the highlights. There are a number of mysteries in this novel that are better left discovering on your own.

I think this book would really shine on a second read.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Theo of Golden.

Highlights

Theo of Golden

by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 2

He had the imagination of a poet.
— Page 25 | Saturday, October 4, 2025 at 10:20:02 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Even as a boy, Theo had been fascinated by fine lines and intricacy. Much of his childhood was spent peering through a magnifying glass at feathers, leaves, and insects in the vineyards around his home.
— Page 33 | Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 10:13:01 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 4

Beautiful penmanship.
Expensive paper.
Disarming language.
No last name.
No return address.
Odd but somehow credible.
— Page 50 | Monday, October 6, 2025 at 10:26:01 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

‘Benign eccentricity’?
— Page 51 | Monday, October 6, 2025 at 10:26:50 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 5

There was nothing wildly bohemian about his appearance, but there was enough to set him apart from his mid-fiftyish contemporaries who reported to banks or law offices or real estate agencies each morning for their daily bread. His wardrobe, unlike many of theirs, suggested a life free of supervision or a need to impress.
— Page 63 | Wednesday, October 8, 2025 at 9:59:41 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 7

The good sadness, I think, is always trying to tell us something very important.”
— Page 89 | Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 10:02:50 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

I don’t have many virtues, but I am good, one of the very best, at keeping secrets.” (He might have added “at living a secret.”)
— Page 98 | Thursday, October 9, 2025 at 10:07:04 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 10

The man is a connoisseur with an eye for beauty and excellence.
— Page 133 | Sunday, October 12, 2025 at 10:04:04 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Theo was now tenant, client, neighbor, and confider to James Ponder.
— Page 151 | Sunday, October 12, 2025 at 10:11:53 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 12

“Mr. Junior, when I saw this face, I had a feeling this was a special man, a wise and good man. Now I know. And a good storyteller as well. I’m very glad I get to be in the world with you.”
— Page 164 | Monday, October 13, 2025 at 9:56:07 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Much later, the magazine launched. One of the first articles was about a day when two college students met an old man named Theo.
— Page 167 | Monday, October 13, 2025 at 10:01:32 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 14

Kendrick also wanted to ask again why the man was being so generous to total strangers. Such largesse was unsettling, even a bit frightening. But something bigger, undefinable, gave Kendrick hope that the old man meant nothing but good.
— Page 203 | Monday, October 13, 2025 at 10:20:46 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 17

But regardless of the season, this towering tree, as others had done in other places, served as Theo’s quiet companion and mentor in the ancient ways of stillness and listening. It was good company for an old soul.
— Page 223 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:46:11 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

She dethroned all of Theo’s previous deities the day she was born.
— Page 225 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:47:31 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

that his daughter had been killed in an automobile accident, a single-car accident caused when Theo’s seriously inebriated wife, also killed, lost control of her expensive car, left the roadway, flipped repeatedly, and came to rest at the foot of a slightly damaged beech tree.
— Page 228 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:49:16 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

If he could not feel her breath, he could at least be where she had most recently breathed.
— Page 230 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:50:44 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

And so, he walked. And walked.
Every day.
As if his life depended on it, he walked. Alone.
Tirelessly.
Desperately.
— Page 232 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:51:32 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

It would be a healing that would never, at least in this life, be total or final.
— Page 239 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:56:21 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 18

Mr. Ponder paused. “Anita, many years ago, Theo was a client of my father.”
— Page 245 | Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 9:59:02 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 25

Neither she nor Theo uttered a word. They were silenced by the sacredness of the moment. Ellen finally whispered the child‘s name, Willa Francesca. Then she closed the locket, clasped the necklace back in place, and rested her hands in her lap.
— Page 356 | Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 9:22:42 AM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

“Mr. Theo, a little while ago, you said when you looked at my picture, I looked ‘motherly,’ right? Is that really what you saw?“
Theo nodded.
“Thank you, Mr. Theo.”
— Page 358 | Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 9:25:30 AM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 29

I read this essay one time about an English teacher. Whenever somebody asked him about his job, he would say he taught a course in magic
— Page 393 | Sunday, October 19, 2025 at 11:53:13 AM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 31

“Before Vietnam, I was just Dan and Mitzi’s boy, then all of a sudden, at least off and on while I was over there, I was a devil. Vietnam was a world full of monsters, and I was one of ‘em. It scares me that the monster might still be in me somewhere.”
— Page 444 | Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 10:23:50 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 33

“Herbivores eat Brussels sprouts, carnivores eat birds, cashivores eat dollar bills, and verbivores eat words.”
— Page 474 | Thursday, October 23, 2025 at 11:07:07 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 34

After a moment, Theo spoke. “Then I propose that we make a trade. Give me that old picture in your head, and take this new one home with you.”
— Page 496 | Friday, October 24, 2025 at 10:50:21 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 35

“Asher, in every face I detect sadness.”
— Page 500 | Friday, October 24, 2025 at 10:51:49 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

When we’re young, we’re usually too busy or too self-absorbed to see it, but by the time one is almost ninety, this world has beat the sadness into him quite deeply.
— Page 501 | Monday, October 27, 2025 at 10:26:15 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

There is no virtue in advertising one’s sadness. But there is no wisdom in denying it either. And there is the beautiful possibility that great love can grow out of sadness if it is well-tended. Sadness can make us bitter or wise. We get to choose.”
— Page 503 | Monday, October 27, 2025 at 10:27:00 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 40

A meal, a book, and a nap seemed the perfect trifecta for the afternoon.
And so it was.
— Page 581 | Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at 8:54:07 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 42

Bad mercy don’t hurt nearly like bad justice,
— Page 595 | Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 10:36:15 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 45

Theo held the bottle out to Tony. “Look here.” Theo pointed to the label. “This bottle is vintage 1947, yes, 1947, the year you were born.
— Page 639 | Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 9:58:52 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 46

‘A man who loves all women loves no woman. A man who loves only one woman loves all women.’
— Page 653 | Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 10:06:45 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 49

There are songs in this bow that only you can play. Play well. For the angels.
— Page 705 | Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 9:52:14 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 52

Life was too short for azaleas in black vases.
— Page 733 | Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 10:05:40 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 58

Yellow crime tape marked the spot of Theo’s death.
— Page 795 | Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 10:07:25 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 59

RENOWNED ARTIST DIES IN FALL
A smaller heading added:
Reclusive Genius Leaves Behind Prized Collection
— Page 801 | Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 10:09:48 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Zila was born on October 28, 1932, in Pinhão, a village in northern Portugal.
— Page 803 | Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 10:11:04 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

“The only reason I am an artist is because I do not have the genius to play cello
— Page 809 | Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 10:14:00 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 60

he was remembered not as a celebrated artist or collector but as an acquaintance, neighbor, and friend.
— Page 812 | Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 10:15:27 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

“To everyone else, he was Zila the famous. To us, he was Theo the familiar.
— Page 821 | Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 10:19:00 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

CHAPTER 62

Theo had painted his — Asher’s — face.
The portrait captured a hint of a grin.
A tone of thoughtfulness.
— Page 848 | Monday, November 10, 2025 at 9:57:42 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

That little boy, named Asher, is the reason I came to Golden. You can hardly know the joy it has brought me — man to man, artist to artist, soul to soul — to finally see his face, his world, and his goodness during this past year.
— Page 850 | Monday, November 10, 2025 at 9:58:39 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

I was never more cursed than when I bowed down to the enslaving idol of fame.
— Page 855 | Monday, November 10, 2025 at 10:00:54 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Asher took a deep breath as he processed the truth of what he was reading.
Theo. His father?
— Page 863 | Monday, November 10, 2025 at 10:04:50 PM
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi