In a coffeehouse in the Southern city of Golden, pencil portraits of local people hang for sale. Allen Levi's first novel begins when a stranger named Theo buys them and hands each to its subject.
Readical Key Points
Allen Levi's first novel; a #1 New York Times bestseller, according to the publisher
A Katie Couric Book Club pick (February 2026) and a Jen Hatmaker Book Club pick (March 2026)
Set in Golden, a small city in the American South; classed as literary, Southern and Christian fiction
Hardcover, 400 pages; Atria Books, November 2025
Theo says little about where he comes from or why he has come. For each portrait he asks only one thing in return: the story of the person it shows. As he moves from one resident of Golden to the next, secrets and regrets come to the surface, and the lives of ordinary people start to change. The novel is built around giving and receiving, and around seeing others and being seen.
Readers of gentle, character-driven Southern fiction, and of novels about generosity and community, will recognize its register; the Washington Post notes its allegorical quality. Theo pays for the pictures. The people of Golden pay him back in stories.
About the Author
Allen Levi has worked as an attorney, a judge and a singer-songwriter. This is his first novel.
Condition: Brand New and Readical Ready.
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