Self published by Allen Levi in 2023, Theo of Golden is a quiet, slow moving story that holds a deep mystery most of the way through it.

How is it, Theo wondered, that a piece of paper – a letter, a photo, a ticket stub, a sketch, a painting – is suddenly transformed by placing it in four bits of wood beneath a pane of glass? What does it mean that we place permanent boundaries around transient moments? What does it say of humankind that we take such trouble to freeze specific memories, that we devote such energy to capturing and preserving the “minute particulars” of our lives?

Theo is an old man in his 80’s who arrives in the town of Golden as a stranger. After visiting a local coffeehouse, The Chalice, and contemplating 92 pencil drawn portraits of local residents hung on the walls. Theo decides he will buy the pictures.

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.

Theo purchases the portraits one by one and writes to their subjects requesting a meeting in the local park. He meets them on a park bench and gives them their portrait. The locals leave their interactions with Theo feeling like they have been truly seen. But almost no one knows who he is and he never reveals his surname, dodging any too personal questions.

It’s hard enough to define what art is, much less ‘good art.’ I wonder if there is such a thing. Maybe there are just good responses. But I guess if a work of art makes us see something familiar in a new way or makes us feel something we ought to have felt all along or shows us our place in the world more clearly, maybe then it qualifies as ‘good.’ If it makes us better somehow, maybe that’s what gives it value.

Theo of Golden is a beautifully written and enchanting read (aside from a couple of bumpy spots). It is written in a form that resembles a parable. At its core it is about the power of kindness and connection. I found it a heartwarming story – and may have cried a little at one point.