Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi is a spellbinding debut novel from a seventy-year-old former attorney who tells the story of Theo, an eighty-six-year-old newcomer to the small university town of Golden, GA. 

Theo is Portuguese and arrives in Golden from New York City unknown and spends one year there, from springtime to springtime. He goes to the Chalice coffee shop, and sees ninety-two pencil-drawn portraits on the walls, done by local artist Asher Glissen. It notes that Leo feels he recognizes the woman in one of the portraits and gets the idea to buy and give each personally to the subject of the drawing, with each giving away of a portrait a bestowal. The first he purchases to give away is of Minnette Prentiss, married to district attorney Derrick, with the portrait by her uncle Asher. When Theo gives the portrait to Minnette, he notes how her eyes remind him of a girl he knew in Spain many years prior. She says that the sadness comes from her not living up to the expectations of her father, the brother of Asher, who is focused on material success and wants different things for her than she wants. 

Theo meets James Ponder, a business consultant and broker, the only person that Theo tells his story to. Ponder rents Theo the apartment above his office and his secretary aids in the buying of the portraits and Theo personally giving them to the subjects. When he does a bestowal, he asks about the people and their lives, and tells them of the good he sees in them. Along with people, who they are and what they care about, Theo is interested in sculpture, architecture, birds, flowers, and music and there are allusions throughout the book to the secrets he holds. Theo befriends the portrait artist Asher, local bookshop owner Tony, coffee shop owners Shep and Addie, street musician Basil, and cellist Simone. 

Two particular bestowals that turn into friendships are those to Ellen and to Kendrick Walker. Ellen was homeless, spending much of her time on the Promenade in downtown Golden. Some thirty years prior, her newborn daughter Willa was taken from her by the authorities, and Ellen reveals to Theo that she an artist. Walker is a night custodian and his his eight-year-old daughter, Lamisha, is in the hospital, injured in a car crash that killed her mother. Through James Ponder, Theo arranges a doctor for Lamisha to oversee her care and becomes close with her, with mention in the book that Theo's ten-year-old daughter Tita had died decades prior. Also detailed is the person responsible for the car accident that injured Lamisha and killed her mother, and the mercy shown by Kendrick, Lamisha, and Theo.

The people started to intertwine together, talking with one another and referencing their time spent with Theo, to people who also have spent time with him. It's a lovely book, with a tapestry of stories weaved together and lots of foreshadowing in it. At the end of the book, it comes out why Theo was in Golden, and why he every day would sit by the river and watch the sunset. The back cover of the book features a quote from it... "for anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it. Whether the art is sculpture, farming, teaching, lawmaking, medicine, music, or raising a child--nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core."