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The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Historical fiction

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

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by Lynda Cohen Loigman

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Quick take

Life-affirming and inspiring, this is the story of a retiree who learns to reclaim the magic and passion of her youth.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Inspirational

    Inspirational

  • Illustrated icon, Light_Read

    Light read

  • Illustrated icon, Nonlinear_Timeline

    Nonlinear timeline

  • Illustrated icon, Second_Chance_Romance

    Second chance romance

Synopsis

It’s never too late for new beginnings.

On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community in southern Florida—she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy from her father’s old pharmacy—and the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier.

As a teenager growing up in 1920s Brooklyn, Augusta’s role model was her father, Solomon Stern, the trusted owner of the local pharmacy and the neighborhood expert on every ailment. But when Augusta’s mother dies and Great Aunt Esther moves in, Augusta can’t help but be drawn to Esther’s curious methods. As a healer herself, Esther offers Solomon’s customers her own advice—unconventional remedies ranging from homemade chicken soup to a mysterious array of powders and potions.

As Augusta prepares for pharmacy college, she is torn between loyalty to her father and fascination with her great aunt, all while navigating a budding but complicated relationship with Irving. Desperate for clarity, she impulsively uses Esther’s most potent elixir with disastrous consequences. Disillusioned and alone, Augusta vows to reject Esther’s enchantments forever.

Sixty years later, confronted with Irving, Augusta is still haunted by the mistakes of her past. What happened all those years ago and how did her plan go so spectacularly wrong? Did Irving ever truly love her or was he simply playing a part? And can Augusta reclaim the magic of her youth before it’s too late?

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Get an early look from the first pages of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

ONE

JUNE 1987

Augusta Stern did not want to retire. She had no interest in learning to knit, studying a new language, or filling her plate at some overcrowded cruise ship buffet. She did not want to “slow down,” take “time for herself,” or surrender to any other nonsensical euphemism designed to make her feel better about being made to give up the work she’d been doing for most of her life.

The first mention of Augusta’s retirement had come from the hospital administration five years ago; the second, two years after that. But this time, it was more than a mention. This time, Augusta had been summoned directly by the hospital’s new director of human resources—a man far more competent and precise than his sluggish predecessor. Mr. Willard’s office was small but tidy and smelled pleasantly of Lemon Pledge. After gesturing to the hulking device on his desk that Augusta recognized as a computer, he explained how he had been tasked by the head of the hospital’s administration to modernize the workings of his department. “We’re putting all employee records on a new network. Soon our paperwork will be entirely electronic.”

Augusta stared at the computer between them, wondering what any of this had to do with her. “Fascinating,” she replied.

“It is,” the balding director agreed. “Though it requires a good deal of data entry work. Take, for example, the pharmacy department, of which you are an illustrious member. Even as we speak, the members of my staff are typing the personal information of every pharmacist into our new database.”

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Why I love it

One of the most well-loved romantic tropes is when two characters reconnect with their first love. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern tells such a story—but it is so much more than that.

Eighty-year-old Augusta, a trained pharmacist, has finally been forced to retire. Beyond the culture shock of moving from New York to Florida, she finds her first love Irving living at the same assisted living facility. We travel back in time to 1920s Brooklyn as Augusta recounts not only her budding relationship with her pharmacist father’s delivery boy, but also her memories of the aunt who raised her. An aunt with special knowledge of herbs and potions and teas, which not only had healing properties, but seemed to conjure magic as well.

I loved this story largely because I loved Augusta, the younger and the elder. She is no-nonsense, smart, insightful, but also curious about the world and wanting to do her very best. She came to life for me as someone I would want for a best friend. I loved spending this time in her worlds—both the practical, scientific pharmaceutical world and the healing world of nature. I found this book comforting to the very last page.

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