Theo of Golden

July 22, 2026.

Serendipitously while on a trip to visit my brother who had recently moved to Scarsdale NY we decided to go to the local library.  While there Theo of Golden grabbed my attention as I was walking by the cafe located in the Library - what a great idea - the space was leased to a local vendor.  Theo of Golden was the last book chosen by our book club which I had missed reading.  So what better time to pick it up and take it out.  

I breezed through the book reading it over a weekend.  So I didn't have the chance to ask myself what did I think would happen at the 80% mark of the book.  Looking back on that, I did suspect there was something more to Theo's generosity than pure unconditional love.  We were led to believe it was somthing sinister at some early points in the book, however at the end we get quite the opposite, far from a evil or bad motivating factor we get the best possible motivation.  As it turns out Theo is the father of the local artist Asher.  That he has been buying Asher's portraits of local townsfolks is yet another way Theo has served as his patron through the years.  Does that diminish Theo's genorosity that it was a father buying his son's art rather than a total stranger?  Perhaps.  

At the heart of the book are the townspeople that Theo helps while deliveing the portraits Asher has painted of them.  Three characters stood out the most.  As I was reading the book, I didn't think I would be more moved than by reading of Ellen who had her just delivered baby girl snatched from her because she was deemed mentally unfit.  

Kendrick is a Black janitor whose daughter's leg was serioiusly injured in an accident by an illiegal immigrant.  Theo hires the best doctor for her and later Kendrick forgives the immigrant when he finds out that he is about to be deported for this accident.  

Tony owns the local bookstore and is a Vietnam War veteran who suffers from PTSD mainly because he gave a young boy his lucky golf ball.  A golf ball that would be mistaken for a grenade and cuase the boy to be blown up.  This reminded me of the Scene in Catch 22 where McWatt does a low pass over a bridge and kills a boy.  

As it turns out Theo's obituary did much to explain the seeming coincidences in the people Theo helped.  It was a life well served at the end and Ellen's girl returning to Golden was the perfect cherry on that of this feel good book.