Theo of Golden: A Novel

by Allen Levi · 2026

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING PHENOMENON A Katie Couric Book Club Pick • A Jen Hatmaker Book Club Pick “[A] word-of-mouth smash hit.” — The New York Times “A treasure.” —Hoda Kotb “ To Kill a Mockingbird for this generation.” — The Dallas Morning News 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