Perfect for Book Clubs, Theo of Golden is character-driven, compelling, and reflective literary fiction.
Are you looking for your next great book club selection?
Are you a book club host in charge of discussion questions?
Check out this book club kit for Theo of Golden.
I have noticed that visitors frequently arrive at this website as a result of searching for book club discussion questions. Occasionally, I will address certain discussion possibilities for book clubs in my reviews, but I have not created specific posts that book club members could use as a resource. Thus, a new feature is born: Book Club Kits. I’m grateful to Jo @ JoLindsdell for the inspiration and encouragement and for modeling what this post might look like. (Jo has several book club kits to check out!)
Book Club Kits will be posted in the feed as I create them but will live under a Menu Tab. This is the SIXTH but not the last! I envision maybe four per year (one per quarter) and each one will be one of my five-star reads.
Let me know what you think! Does a Book Club Kit interest you?
Previous Book Club Kits: West With Giraffes, Go as a River, James, The Boys of Riverside (nonfiction), and The Correspondent.
***Reading beyond this point will reveal SPOILERS.***
Book Club Kit: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
**This post contains SPOILERS**
Book Information:
Genre: Literary Fiction
Categories: Character-driven, small town, friendship, kindness, art, generosity, older character, inspirational
Setting: Contemporary, Georgia (USA)
Publisher: (self-published) Allen Levi
Publication Date: October 11, 2023
ISBN-13 : 979-8988702900
ASIN : B0CFK91R4L
Number of Pages: 399
Purchase Link
(By the way, the audio format is wonderful!)
Content Consideration (TW): overall a light “uplit” read sprinkled with war memories, (one) abusive character, death, memory of child death, grief
Age: Adult
My Reading Experience: Theo of Golden gave me a “book hangover” in the best possible way. Theo is a unique, memorable, and inspirational character. He’s kind, generous, and thoughtful. The prose is poetic, rich in symbolism, and I was intrigued from the first page. I’m certain that Theo of Golden will be on my best-of-year list for 2025. A 5-Star read.
Link to my Captivating Character of the Month Review
Awards
(saving this space)
My Summary of Theo of Golden
Theo arrives in a small Georgia town and visits a coffee shop that displays portraits by a local artist. Theo is fascinated by the artwork and the artist. He wonders why the art hasn’t sold and decides to buy several pieces and gift each one to the subject of the portrait. As he continues to do this, he gains notoriety in town. It’s a bit unusual, but the folks love him and he makes many friends. As the story progresses to its dramatic conclusion, Theo’s complicated motivations are revealed.
About the Author of Theo of Golden, Allen Levi
Allen Levi grew up in Columbus, Georgia, attended University of Georgia for degrees in English and Law, and worked as an attorney from 1980 to 1990. He left law practice for two years in 1990, moved to Scotland, and, while there, received a degree in Scottish fiction from the University of Edinburgh. He returned home, resumed law practice for three years, and finally ventured into vocational music in 1996.
Since then, he has worked as a traveling musician, sharing his whimsical, thought-provoking brand of songwriting and storytelling to audiences across the U.S. He has over twenty albums to his credit, as well as hundreds of other unpublished songs.
In 2014, he published The Last Sweet Mile, a memoir of the close friendship he shared with his brother, Gary, who died in 2012. He also wrote and published a children’s book, Oliviatown, adapted from a song of the same title.
Allen published his first novel, Theo of Golden, in 2023 and is currently working on its sequel, Ellen of Golden.
When not reading or writing, Allen, cares for family acreage where he lives with his father, spends time with family nearby, keeps a full schedule of involvement in the small community around him, and dreams of being an artist someday.
Author Interviews:
Columbus, Georgia Local News (shows the coffee shop and art inspiration for the book)
Reviews:
The Pursuit of His Best (review)
Nonfiction Companion Read
Theo is an excellent listener! One book that explores the art of listening well is You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters by Kate Murphy
Book Flights/Companion Reads:
A few of my favorite character-driven novels include The Correspondent, Gilead, A Man Called Ove, Sipsworth
Book Club Discussion Questions:
Questions contain spoilers because I assume you’ve read the story.
1.
This story celebrates kindness. Describe your experience with random and/or generous acts of kindness.
2.
Theo is an octogenarian. How do you envision your 80s? Do you think someone that age can be a difference maker? A compassionate person? A bestower of gifts? A good listener?
3.
Rivers from his past and the river where he is living are mentioned right away in the prologue. We know that in literature, water is often a symbol of purity, life, rebirth, and regeneration. Theo walks by the river, and a bench by the fountain is his meeting place of choice. Do you notice other symbolism in the story?
4.
Are you a gift giver? Would you rather give than receive? Could you accept a generous gift from a stranger? What is Theo’s reaction to gifts that others bestow on him?
5.
After the first few bestowals, Theo reflects that he’s “stumbled onto his purpose as the newest resident of Golden.” Can you identify a strong purpose in your life? Do you think a purpose changes with the seasons or circumstances of life?
6.
Theo spends considerable time enjoying “The Promenade” and learning the history of the town. Does your city or town have a vibrant and well-developed town center where residents congregate for entertainment and shopping? Do you know the history of your town?
7.
Are you an artist or a person who appreciates art? What makes “good art”?
Chapter 21: “It’s hard enough to define what art is, much less ‘good art.’…Maybe there are just good responses…. If it makes us better somehow, maybe that’s what gives it value.”
“For anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it.”
8.
Tony shares his Vietnam experiences with Theo. Have you had the opportunity to sit and talk with someone who has been in a war? Have you been in a war zone?
9.
Share one time when you have performed a random act of kindness.
Chapter 34: “The best portion of a good person’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” ~Wordsworth
10.
Chapter 35: “So, you’re an expert in sadness?” Theo shrugged. “I suppose anyone as old as me could say the same.”
Do you feel older individuals have experienced a great deal of sadness? Are these individuals experts at hiding it? Coping with it?
11.
Mrs. Gidley’s attitude is slowly changing in the work she is doing for Theo. Is the joy of giving contagious?
Chapter 36: “The more she bought into the goodness of the bestowals, a lightness crept into her disposition. There was a noticeable new enthusiasm about her work.”
12.
As the author reveals the character of Theo, what were your first impressions of Theo? Did you guess who he was or his purpose in Golden? Were you able to predict the big reveal?
13.
(*****spoilers*****)
What did you think about the final revelation (Theo’s relationship to the artist) and his motivations for buying and bestowing the art? Was it fair of Theo to keep this information from Asher? Or should he have disclosed his identity from the beginning? Did he think he had more time, or had he always planned to do it in a letter after his death? When all is revealed, did it affect your perception of Theo? Did it affect your reading experience?
14.
Bestowals: It’s interesting that Theo’s experience as a young boy with the fisherman/artist was a bestowal. How did the words the fisherman/artist spoke to Theo affect his life? What do you think about Theo’s interactions with individuals in the community? How did Theo’s words affect the recipients? Which bestowal was your favorite or the most memorable? Do you think the bestowal to Theo as a youngster influenced him in the art of bestowals as an older man?
(Allen Levi is writing a sequel! Ellen of Golden)
15.
Theo is an excellent listener. Has Theo encouraged you to become a better listener? Theo also notices the beauty around him in the smallest details. Can you identify five beautiful things you have noticed today?
16.
What is the most important message in the book? Is there an underlying theme that permeates everything else? What are the most important and thoughtful themes in the story? Which one resonates with you the most?
17.
When Kendrick had to give a victim statement to the court, his grandmother advised him to err on the side of mercy if forced to choose between mercy and justice. Theo exhorts Kendrick to be as kind as he can. What is your opinion about the advice?
18.
Has reading Theo of Golden changed you in some way?
19.
Making personal connections enhances the reading experience. Did you make connections with the story that are important and meaningful to you?
20.
If you were to recommend Theo of Golden to a friend or fellow reader, what superlative would you use to describe the book or your reading experience?
Quotes:
Chapter 34: “The best portion of a good person’s life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” ~Wordworth
Chapter 35: “Living with sadness, accepting it, is easier than trying to pretend it isn’t there. It is another of life’s great mysteries that sadness and joy can coexist so compatibly with one another. In fact, I wonder if, on this side of heaven, either one can be complete without the other.”
Chapter 35: “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.”
Chapter 37: “But the giving is part of the gift.”
Chapter 42: “They’s justice and they’s mercy. If you not sure what to do and you gotta choose one or the other, I say always go the mercy way. If you make a mistake, make it for mercy. Bad mercy don’t hurt nearly like bad justice, and always remember, the eye of God can see.”
Chapter 60: “Love and heaven and forgiveness are the most real things that we can know in this world.”
Chapter 42: “God gave us faces so we can see each other better.”
A Themed Book Club Party
Some book clubs might choose a southern theme and provide a southern dessert. Peach cobbler or pecan pie anyone?
A great deal of specialty coffee is consumed in the story! Perhaps, coffee and a cake shaped like a cello (think Simone’s party) would be delightful!
Gold paper goods and decorations for the town of Golden.
Because of the feather on the cover, the gift of feathers, and bird discussions with Ellen, a theme of feathers/birds might be easy and fun!
Themed Snacks
Decorated sugar cutout cookies in bird shapes (or feathers) might be easy to make or order!
Extras
It might be easy to find bird-themed party favors such as these note cards.
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QOTD:
Have you read Theo of Golden, or would you consider it for your book club?
Do you find this book club kit helpful?
Let me know if you end up using it for your book club and how it goes.
ICYMI: How to start a book club.
Happy Reading Book Buddies!
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text
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I purchase or borrow from the library all books I review unless explicitly stated that the book is free (arc).
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You do make a good overall package for book clubs.
Thank you! 🌻
[…] Name of Captivating Character: TheoThe reason he is captivating: compassionate, kind, generous, thoughtful, spiritualBook and Author: Theo of Golden by Allen LeviGenre/Categories/Setting: Contemporary Fiction, Character-driven Literary Fiction, Small Town, Friendship, Inspirational, GeorgiaMood: reflectiveContent Considerations: overall a light read sprinkled with war memories, (one) abusive character, death, memory of child death, griefFREE Book Club Kit for Theo of Golden […]
Great job, Carol. You’ve outdone yourself on this kit.
Thanks Gina! I appreciate your encouragement. Have you read it?
This is absolutely brilliant! I write two series- a WWII and a Mafia-and this is the missing component in my publicity campaign. Looking forward to reading more.
Great kit you’ve done here. I need to get back to doing more of these myself.
Thanks! I haven’t done as many as I first planned. I’m particular about the ones I choose…my best 5 star reads! They’ve been few and far between the last couple of years! Thanks again for the inspiration! They’ve been popular!
Any chance you have the chapter numbers for the quotes you chose? Trying to find them in the book, but not having much luck.
Oh my! That would have been a good idea! I’ll have to remember to include that info. I have it on my kindle and I can look that info up for you…but m not home right now…. Can do it in a few hours? Does that work?
Ok…..I’ve edited to include chapters! Thankful for kindle highlights! 🙌
[…] Club Kit: Theo of Golden by James LeviMy review of Theo of GoldenGenre/Categories: Contemporary Literary Fiction, Kindness, Compassion, […]
[…] Kind”WHY: The world needs kind and lovely people who are compassionate and listen well. I created a FREE Book Club Kit here. 12/2/2025…the audio book was released, and I just finished reading it for the third time! […]