The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

• Author: Lynda Cohen Loigman
• Genre: Historical Fiction
• Publication Date: October 8, 2024
• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Macmillan Audio

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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 1920’s 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?

Lynda Cohen Loigman first came to my attention with her third book, The Matchmaker’s Gift, and it earned her a space in my heart. So when I noticed that another of her books was being released, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy to start reading it. I was exceptionally fortunate, and was approved for both the e-book and the audiobook editions. I mainly listened to the audiobook, referring back to the e-book if needed.

This book was narrated by Gabra Zackman, and she is a wonderful narrator. I loved the different voices she came up with for the characters, and she even nailed the heavy accent of Augusta’s great-aunt Esther. I highly recommend the audiobook version, although the e-book is equally enjoyable.

This story is told in two different timelines, but including the same characters. The first storyline takes place in the 1920s, when Augusta is a teenager working in her father’s apothecary, and Irving is the delivery boy. The second storyline takes place in the 1980s, when Augusta retires, moves to a retirement community in Florida, and realizes that Irving lives in the same one. I loved watching the two different timelines to see how their relationship develops in each, but also to see how the events from their past impacted the rest of their lives. 

The timelines don’t converge, but we slowly find out what happened in the 1920s between Augusta and Irving through the chapters set in the past. So in essence, this one kind of felt like two romances in one—we watch Augusta and Irving fall in love in the 1920s, and then we watch them get a second-chance romance 60 years later. 

I adored both Augusta and Irving. Augusta was a woman who knew what she wanted, and was never afraid of tackling the obstacles in her path. A young woman attending pharmacy college in the 1920s wasn’t small potatoes—she was one of five woman in her program, and still had to face misogyny from closed-minded men who didn’t accept a woman compounding medications. I also loved the character of Esther, and would have enjoyed learning more about her background: maybe a spin-off book? She worked as an herbal healer, using natural cures from the Old Country to treat cases that the doctors and pharmacists had said were untreatable. 

The chapters that took place in the 1920s were not only engrossing, I also learned a lot about the role that apothecaries and pharmacists played in providing medical care. Nowadays, we go to the pharmacy to get a prescription and that’s that. But back then, people went to their local pharmacist for care, not just impersonal provision of medication. The pharmacist knew their customers by name and work to help them just as much as doctors did.

Overall, this was a fantastic story, and I really enjoyed the way the romance was combined with hints of magical realism. I especially loved the message that it is never too late to fall in love and be happy, featuring a couple in their 80s who can find love if they are able to get through their past. I can’t say enough good things about this book, and you’ll enjoy this if you like second-chance romance, characters who are older, dual timelines, and stories with a touch of magical realism.

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