08/28/2026
The LifeWorks Group First Book Review 📚😄🤟 - Title: Theo of Golden:
“But for anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it…” is my favorite quote from Allen Levi’s new book "Theo of Golden" which is one of those rare novels that reflects love on every page.
Theo arrives in the small town of Golden, Georgia with nothing but a paintbrush and a heart tuned to see people as God sees them. And somehow, through the simple act of gifting portraits, he helps ordinary folks feel seen, known, and valued. This book reminds us that goodness still exists, that hope can be found in everyday life, and that sadness and joy can coexist without canceling each other out.
Reading Theo of Golden will expand your capacity for empathy, restore tenderness, then gently remind you of the kind of love that makes art and life good. In a world obsessed with achievement, noise, and self‑promotion, this quiet, self‑published story became a NYT #1 literary phenomenon the old‑fashioned way — through love, beauty, and word‑of‑mouth wonder. Everyone who reads it tells somebody else - that's how I found it, and now Theo has become one of my favorite novels of all time.
Pick it up, give yourself time to sit on the bench with Theo, then get ready to really see the people around you."
- Dwight Bain
