The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
by Lynda Cohen Loigman
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Description
"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 show more 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?"-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is an absolute delight to read from beginning to end. The story takes place in two timelines, that of the 1920's and the 1980's where our main characters Augusta and Irving fall in love but circumstances and a rash of bad luck have kept them apart. When Irving suddenly and shockingly marries another woman Augusta is heartbroken and decides to fill the shoes of her father, a talented pharmacist. It was a challenge back then as women were not expected to hold such positions that were traditionally held by men. Augusta perseveres with the encouragement of her father and her great Aunt Esther, a brilliant and dedicated herbalist-apothecary. After a long career as a pharmacist Augusta is pretty much forced to show more retire on the cusp of her eightieth birthday even though she does not want to. She moves to a retirement complex in Florida where who does she meet but her old beau Irving! Sparks are still there but Augusta was hurt before and vows to not be hurt again. So begins the sweet dance of love between the two and as they learn more about each other they also learn about themselves. I just loved this book, the characters are endearing and funny. I was rooting for every one of them. The bits of magical reality thrown in were especially fun and made me a true believer. I think the narrator Gabra Zackman of the audio book I listened to was amazing. Seriously she was the most perfect voice for Augusta and her cohorts, really done well. Very highly recommended. 5 solid stars.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio / St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read/listen to the ARC audio version of this delightful novel. show less
Many thanks to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio / St. Martin’s Press for a chance to read/listen to the ARC audio version of this delightful novel. show less
In a Nutshell: A dual-timeline narrative promising historical fiction, romance, and magical realism. The first is exceptional, the second is annoying, and the third is almost non-existent. It is not a bad book, but it is also not a very convincing book, at least in the contemporary timeline. That said, it is easy to see why a majority of readers are gushing over this tale. Mine is a slightly outlier review.
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Plot Preview:
PSA: The Goodreads blurb reveals too much.
Bookish Yays: show less
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Plot Preview:
1987. Soon to turn eighty, Augusta Stern is forced to retire from her job as a hospital pharmacist. Single and unsure about what to do next, she joins an active retirement community in Florida. The last thing she expects here is to bump into Irving Rivkin, who worked in her father’s pharmacyshow more
as a delivery boy and had broken her heart sixty years ago. Augusta is determined not to allow Irving a second chance.
1920s. Brooklyn. Augusta Stern is determined to become a pharmacist some day and assist her father in his pharmacy. After her mother passes away, Great Aunt Esther moves into her nephew’s home to help. An iconoclast healer, Esther soon wins over some of the neighbours with her unconventional healing methods, much to the chagrin of her nephew and the fascination of Augusta. Now torn between pharmacy and alternate healing, Augusta has to decide if there is indeed any validity to Esther’s remedies. At the same time, she is also navigating a potential relationship with young Irving, which isn't as smooth as they thought it would be.
The story comes to us in the third person perspective of Augusta from the two timelines, with some random interludes from Irving and other characters.
PSA: The Goodreads blurb reveals too much.
Bookish Yays: show less
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a digital advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own.
The title was charming. The premise was intriguing. And the novel was an appealing page-turner, although a bit predictable. But sometimes that’s the kind of book I feel like reading, with a heartwarming happily ever after.
“The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern” tells the story of a woman of a certain age getting a second chance at love with her first boyfriend of sixty years ago. The narrative is told in two timelines and two locations, alternating between 1920’s New York and 1987 Florida. In addition to Augusta’s coming-of-age story, author Lynda Cohen Loigman inserts a story of Augusta’s Aunt Esther, a woman who show more learns to both survive and thrive despite the limitations of society.
Growing up in a middle-class Jewish family in New York, Augusta had always wanted to become a pharmacist like her father. While he encouraged her, they both knew it would be difficult as in the 1920s women were not expected to have a career. When Augusta’s mother dies, Aunt Esther comes to live with them - to keep house, cook, and clean.
And that’s when the novel becomes something more. Esther helps people, mostly women, with her mixtures and elixirs, potions and powders, and often her homemade chicken soup. This is where the novel veers into magical realism, and also provides a message about women’s strength and ability to overcome the time period’s restrictions.
“If a person is denied a formal education,” Esther told Augusta, “She must be inventive in her quest for knowledge She must study the folktales and the old stories. She must learn however she can. She must use every tool at her disposable.”
This is a second chance story of misunderstandings and magic, medicine and miracles, fate and forgiveness. It is about Augusta, who “wanted to be a woman who yes, had suffered losses, but whose heart had not yet been broken beyond repair. A woman who was curious and hopeful and who still believed in the glimmers of magic that made their way quietly into the world.” show less
The title was charming. The premise was intriguing. And the novel was an appealing page-turner, although a bit predictable. But sometimes that’s the kind of book I feel like reading, with a heartwarming happily ever after.
“The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern” tells the story of a woman of a certain age getting a second chance at love with her first boyfriend of sixty years ago. The narrative is told in two timelines and two locations, alternating between 1920’s New York and 1987 Florida. In addition to Augusta’s coming-of-age story, author Lynda Cohen Loigman inserts a story of Augusta’s Aunt Esther, a woman who show more learns to both survive and thrive despite the limitations of society.
Growing up in a middle-class Jewish family in New York, Augusta had always wanted to become a pharmacist like her father. While he encouraged her, they both knew it would be difficult as in the 1920s women were not expected to have a career. When Augusta’s mother dies, Aunt Esther comes to live with them - to keep house, cook, and clean.
And that’s when the novel becomes something more. Esther helps people, mostly women, with her mixtures and elixirs, potions and powders, and often her homemade chicken soup. This is where the novel veers into magical realism, and also provides a message about women’s strength and ability to overcome the time period’s restrictions.
“If a person is denied a formal education,” Esther told Augusta, “She must be inventive in her quest for knowledge She must study the folktales and the old stories. She must learn however she can. She must use every tool at her disposable.”
This is a second chance story of misunderstandings and magic, medicine and miracles, fate and forgiveness. It is about Augusta, who “wanted to be a woman who yes, had suffered losses, but whose heart had not yet been broken beyond repair. A woman who was curious and hopeful and who still believed in the glimmers of magic that made their way quietly into the world.” show less
Author Lynda Cohen Loigman is magical. Her books are always so compelling, so entertaining, so heartwarming – and so unusual. The theme is always strikingly unique with a little bit of almost-magic, not-quite magic, just something not easily explained but delightful.
Augusta Stern has just retired. If you want the perfect example of kicking and screaming all the way, that would be Augusta. She’s just turning 80, but her niece Jackie did a little creative White-Outing on some of Augusta’s paperwork and she’s been claiming she’s 70 for some time now. It finally doesn’t work; she has to retire. So what’s she supposed to do now? She’s been a pharmacist her entire life. A single woman in the business world in New York. Took show more over her father’s pharmacy and then worked in a number of hospitals. She would have liked to have had a husband and children, but she never found the time or the right man who would support her being in business. And the one-that-got-away has been banished to the farthest corners of her memory. Until he just happens to live at the senior community Jackie helped her find in Florida.
Augusta is determined to keep her mad on, even – especially – when Irving starts reminiscing and calling her Goldie like in the old days in Brooklyn. How dare he. He abandoned her, shocking her by leaving and never contacting her again. They are old, it’s too late, forgiveness is not happening. Except she never quite shoved him all the way out of her heart, did she?
In Loigman’s capable hands, the story swings between the 1920s and 1987. Loigman is a master at this, really; you get totally immersed in one time period and then suddenly you have moved to the other, but it’s never jarring and the transitions are just right. In 1922 Augusta’s mother has died and their world has become gray. All light and joy have left her father. Her older sister Bess tries to make life some kind of normal but it’s not happening. When Solomon Stern’s Aunt Esther comes to live with them, life at least takes on a routine: normal schedules, good meals, the house in order, but Esther also brings the scent of magic with her. In that time pharmacists were well-respected and neighborhood folk look upon them as almost doctors. But doctors and pharmacists can’t cure everything, and Esther fills in some of those gaps. Soon people are seeking her out for that chicken soup, or that remedy for whatever ails them, and she has remarkable success. Causes some friction between Solomon and Esther, but she is not deterred. And young Augusta is fascinated by Esther’s middle of the night potion making and wonders if a blend of pharmacist and healer can be her own future.
Irving is the pharmacy delivery boy, and as time passes he and Goldie become good friends with a hint at more. He makes her feel so wonderful, so beautiful, so talented but then doubt creeps in and she tries some potion making of her own. The exact opposite of what she wanted happens, she is devasted, becomes bitter and here we are in 1987.
There is so much going on in the story, wonderfully told by Loigman. Family life, Bess’s budding romance with George, Augusta’s growing closeness to Esther, Irving’s unwitting connection with a mob family who will stop at nothing to get what they want, putting Irving in danger and forcing him to make heartbreaking decisions concerning those he cares for most.
The scenes at the senior community are touching and often hilarious. This is not an old folks’ home but a space full of lively people and activities, including a laugh out loud throwdown between two 80+ year old men, a very jealous woman, and some green Jell-o. Goldie does her best to be cold and rude but Irving persists, just wanting her to listen for a minute and not hate him. He is so sweet you want to hug him, and when he accedes to Goldie’s wishes to “stop calling me that” and “leave me alone” you need a tissue.
The story is full of surprises and revelations and sudden self-awareness. Author Loigman makes you completely forget that these people are in fact biologically old but instead gets you caught up in the history and romance of it all. You never once think it’s too late for love; you are hopeful and if you could, you would jump into the story and give Augusta a little shake to open her eyes. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern via NetGalley. It was an outstanding read, warm and gentle, with a completely satisfying ending. I am always so pleased to find another book by this terrific author. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. show less
Augusta Stern has just retired. If you want the perfect example of kicking and screaming all the way, that would be Augusta. She’s just turning 80, but her niece Jackie did a little creative White-Outing on some of Augusta’s paperwork and she’s been claiming she’s 70 for some time now. It finally doesn’t work; she has to retire. So what’s she supposed to do now? She’s been a pharmacist her entire life. A single woman in the business world in New York. Took show more over her father’s pharmacy and then worked in a number of hospitals. She would have liked to have had a husband and children, but she never found the time or the right man who would support her being in business. And the one-that-got-away has been banished to the farthest corners of her memory. Until he just happens to live at the senior community Jackie helped her find in Florida.
Augusta is determined to keep her mad on, even – especially – when Irving starts reminiscing and calling her Goldie like in the old days in Brooklyn. How dare he. He abandoned her, shocking her by leaving and never contacting her again. They are old, it’s too late, forgiveness is not happening. Except she never quite shoved him all the way out of her heart, did she?
In Loigman’s capable hands, the story swings between the 1920s and 1987. Loigman is a master at this, really; you get totally immersed in one time period and then suddenly you have moved to the other, but it’s never jarring and the transitions are just right. In 1922 Augusta’s mother has died and their world has become gray. All light and joy have left her father. Her older sister Bess tries to make life some kind of normal but it’s not happening. When Solomon Stern’s Aunt Esther comes to live with them, life at least takes on a routine: normal schedules, good meals, the house in order, but Esther also brings the scent of magic with her. In that time pharmacists were well-respected and neighborhood folk look upon them as almost doctors. But doctors and pharmacists can’t cure everything, and Esther fills in some of those gaps. Soon people are seeking her out for that chicken soup, or that remedy for whatever ails them, and she has remarkable success. Causes some friction between Solomon and Esther, but she is not deterred. And young Augusta is fascinated by Esther’s middle of the night potion making and wonders if a blend of pharmacist and healer can be her own future.
Irving is the pharmacy delivery boy, and as time passes he and Goldie become good friends with a hint at more. He makes her feel so wonderful, so beautiful, so talented but then doubt creeps in and she tries some potion making of her own. The exact opposite of what she wanted happens, she is devasted, becomes bitter and here we are in 1987.
There is so much going on in the story, wonderfully told by Loigman. Family life, Bess’s budding romance with George, Augusta’s growing closeness to Esther, Irving’s unwitting connection with a mob family who will stop at nothing to get what they want, putting Irving in danger and forcing him to make heartbreaking decisions concerning those he cares for most.
The scenes at the senior community are touching and often hilarious. This is not an old folks’ home but a space full of lively people and activities, including a laugh out loud throwdown between two 80+ year old men, a very jealous woman, and some green Jell-o. Goldie does her best to be cold and rude but Irving persists, just wanting her to listen for a minute and not hate him. He is so sweet you want to hug him, and when he accedes to Goldie’s wishes to “stop calling me that” and “leave me alone” you need a tissue.
The story is full of surprises and revelations and sudden self-awareness. Author Loigman makes you completely forget that these people are in fact biologically old but instead gets you caught up in the history and romance of it all. You never once think it’s too late for love; you are hopeful and if you could, you would jump into the story and give Augusta a little shake to open her eyes. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern via NetGalley. It was an outstanding read, warm and gentle, with a completely satisfying ending. I am always so pleased to find another book by this terrific author. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. show less
What an absolutely charming story! There's history, family dynamics, clash of the old world and the new, magical realism and a touch of romance. What more could one ask for?
Across dual time lines, (1920s Brooklyn and 1980s southern Florida), we follow the life of Augusta Stern. In her very early years she and her family are dealt a difficult blow. Her father, the neighborhood pharmacist, struggles to manage work and the family. Soon, his mother's sister Esther, joins them and manages their home. But Esther is old world and dad is of the new. There's so much for Augusta to learn and so many decisions to make as she plans her life's journey. Can old and new world ways peacefully cohabit? Add to that a young struggling Irving, who is show more Augusta's dearest friend and perhaps even a bit more. That is until he abandons her. Sixty years later, all the youthful angst and hurt resurfaces. But can all be made well? Perhaps anything can be fixed with a bowl of hot chicken soup. Please pass me a spoon.
Ms. Loigman has done a spectacular job of providing a beautiful story with a lot of heart. The writing is solid; the characters are well-developed; the dialogue fun and at times amusing; the old world ways are mysterious and magical; and the story just warms one's heart. Are you looking for a charming feel good story? Then this may just be the perfect book for you.
I am grateful to to St. Martin's Press for having provided a complimentary uncorrected digital galley of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
No. of pages: 320
ISBN: 978-1250278104 show less
Across dual time lines, (1920s Brooklyn and 1980s southern Florida), we follow the life of Augusta Stern. In her very early years she and her family are dealt a difficult blow. Her father, the neighborhood pharmacist, struggles to manage work and the family. Soon, his mother's sister Esther, joins them and manages their home. But Esther is old world and dad is of the new. There's so much for Augusta to learn and so many decisions to make as she plans her life's journey. Can old and new world ways peacefully cohabit? Add to that a young struggling Irving, who is show more Augusta's dearest friend and perhaps even a bit more. That is until he abandons her. Sixty years later, all the youthful angst and hurt resurfaces. But can all be made well? Perhaps anything can be fixed with a bowl of hot chicken soup. Please pass me a spoon.
Ms. Loigman has done a spectacular job of providing a beautiful story with a lot of heart. The writing is solid; the characters are well-developed; the dialogue fun and at times amusing; the old world ways are mysterious and magical; and the story just warms one's heart. Are you looking for a charming feel good story? Then this may just be the perfect book for you.
I am grateful to to St. Martin's Press for having provided a complimentary uncorrected digital galley of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: October 8, 2024
No. of pages: 320
ISBN: 978-1250278104 show less
Lynda Cohen Loigman's new novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern tells the story of Augusta Stern, an eighty year-old pharmacist who has just (unwillingly) retired to a Florida community her niece found for her.
On her first day there, she discovers that Irving Rivkin, who worked as delivery boy in her father’s pharmacy back in the 1920’s, also lives in the same retirement community. Irvin hurt her deeply many years ago and Augusta never got over it.
This is also a story told in two different time lines- the 1920’s and 1997. Frequently in two different timeline novels, one story is more interesting, but Cohen had me equally engaged in both stories.
Augusta is a fabulous character, she can be difficult and a tough nut to crack. show more Although she initially keeps to herself, she eventually makes friends. What she doesn’t understand is why Irvin is pursuing her romantically after he broke her heart years ago with no explanation.
It’s refreshing to see more older female characters in recent novels and Augusta is one of the more intriguing and well-drawn ones. We get the opportunity to see how she became the person she was, and her close attachment to her great aunt Esther, another intriguing older female character. The setting of 1920’s Brooklyn is so vividly created, I could picture Augusta’s father’s pharmacy clearly. I also highly recommend The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. show less
On her first day there, she discovers that Irving Rivkin, who worked as delivery boy in her father’s pharmacy back in the 1920’s, also lives in the same retirement community. Irvin hurt her deeply many years ago and Augusta never got over it.
This is also a story told in two different time lines- the 1920’s and 1997. Frequently in two different timeline novels, one story is more interesting, but Cohen had me equally engaged in both stories.
Augusta is a fabulous character, she can be difficult and a tough nut to crack. show more Although she initially keeps to herself, she eventually makes friends. What she doesn’t understand is why Irvin is pursuing her romantically after he broke her heart years ago with no explanation.
It’s refreshing to see more older female characters in recent novels and Augusta is one of the more intriguing and well-drawn ones. We get the opportunity to see how she became the person she was, and her close attachment to her great aunt Esther, another intriguing older female character. The setting of 1920’s Brooklyn is so vividly created, I could picture Augusta’s father’s pharmacy clearly. I also highly recommend The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. show less
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern, Lynda Cohen Loigman, author; Gabra Zackman, narrator.
In this book, based on the author’s husband’s great-grandmother, Goldie Litvin, who was born in the first decade of the 20th century, the author has presented a tender tale that proves that true love can come at any age. In the author’s comments, the reader learns that there was a real Goldie. This Goldie was indeed a trailblazer of sorts, since she really graduated as a pharmacist at a time when women did little but become secretaries, nurses, wives and mothers! In the novel, we meet the character modeled after her, and we become aware of the progress women have truly made.
In the book, we learn that sixty-two years ago, Augusta Stern, who is show more now a bit of a curmudgeon, was a teenager in love with Irving Rivkin. Irving worked part time in her father’s pharmacy. Augusta worked there as well. She believed that they both thought they would marry and grow old together. Instead, he broke her heart when he suddenly disappeared from her life and married Lois Diamond, an arrogant and entitled young woman that Augusta or Goldie, as Irving called her, did not even like. Her family, for whom Irving also worked part-time, was wealthy and powerful, often involved in nefarious enterprises. When Irving moved away to Chicago, he went to work for Mitzi and Zip Diamond. He never explained anything to Augusta, and in order to recover from her heartbreak, she threw herself into her work with her father in his pharmacy, and eventually, she too became a pharmacist.
Work became the be-all, end-all of her life, and she never did fall in love again. Now, in 1987, when her niece Jackie told her about a retirement community in Boca Raton, Augusta decided it was time to retire and move. She was approaching her 80th birthday. She was pleased with the move until the day she discovered that Irving Rifkin, now 82, was also a resident of Rallentando Springs. As the story of their unrequited love unfolds, Goldie learns the truth behind Irving’s disappearance. As other secrets are revealed, her own misconceptions go through a series of stages. First, she is in denial, then she is angry, then she seems to acquiesce a bit and softens. Will Goldie overcome her fears and finally move on when she learns the truth about her past? Is it possible to forgive Irving? Is it ever too late to find or rediscover true love?
I am very familiar with both Boca Raton, since I now live in Florida. Also, I, like Goldie, was also brought up in Brooklyn, during a time in which there were far fewer opportunities for women than men. My choices, like most women of Goldie’s time, were limited to nurse, secretary, teacher, or wife and mother. It was difficult for most women to find the money, the opportunity, the school, or the people who would support her desire to advance her education. In my time also, though Goldie and I are separated by decades, pharmacists or druggists, as my family called them, were like doctors. We sought their help first, when we had medical problems. They were always available and happy to help. They made the medications themselves and were on call 24/7 in the neighborhood store. I am also very familiar with the places mentioned in the book, like Brownsville, Flatbush, Betsy Head Park, Sutter Avenue and Coney Island. Jewish crime is mentioned in the book, and I was very well aware of the existence of the Jewish mob, since the daughter of a gangster lived not too far from me. Therefore, I connected with the book, even though Goldie and I lived decades apart.
Although the author seems to glorify the retirement community, I find that if they are not defined as second-home communities, but, instead are defined as the next step in life, retirement, than they more closely resemble G-d’s waiting room. Although my familiarity with Augusta’s background enhanced my pleasure reading this book, I don’t believe it is necessary. The story is delightful. show less
In this book, based on the author’s husband’s great-grandmother, Goldie Litvin, who was born in the first decade of the 20th century, the author has presented a tender tale that proves that true love can come at any age. In the author’s comments, the reader learns that there was a real Goldie. This Goldie was indeed a trailblazer of sorts, since she really graduated as a pharmacist at a time when women did little but become secretaries, nurses, wives and mothers! In the novel, we meet the character modeled after her, and we become aware of the progress women have truly made.
In the book, we learn that sixty-two years ago, Augusta Stern, who is show more now a bit of a curmudgeon, was a teenager in love with Irving Rivkin. Irving worked part time in her father’s pharmacy. Augusta worked there as well. She believed that they both thought they would marry and grow old together. Instead, he broke her heart when he suddenly disappeared from her life and married Lois Diamond, an arrogant and entitled young woman that Augusta or Goldie, as Irving called her, did not even like. Her family, for whom Irving also worked part-time, was wealthy and powerful, often involved in nefarious enterprises. When Irving moved away to Chicago, he went to work for Mitzi and Zip Diamond. He never explained anything to Augusta, and in order to recover from her heartbreak, she threw herself into her work with her father in his pharmacy, and eventually, she too became a pharmacist.
Work became the be-all, end-all of her life, and she never did fall in love again. Now, in 1987, when her niece Jackie told her about a retirement community in Boca Raton, Augusta decided it was time to retire and move. She was approaching her 80th birthday. She was pleased with the move until the day she discovered that Irving Rifkin, now 82, was also a resident of Rallentando Springs. As the story of their unrequited love unfolds, Goldie learns the truth behind Irving’s disappearance. As other secrets are revealed, her own misconceptions go through a series of stages. First, she is in denial, then she is angry, then she seems to acquiesce a bit and softens. Will Goldie overcome her fears and finally move on when she learns the truth about her past? Is it possible to forgive Irving? Is it ever too late to find or rediscover true love?
I am very familiar with both Boca Raton, since I now live in Florida. Also, I, like Goldie, was also brought up in Brooklyn, during a time in which there were far fewer opportunities for women than men. My choices, like most women of Goldie’s time, were limited to nurse, secretary, teacher, or wife and mother. It was difficult for most women to find the money, the opportunity, the school, or the people who would support her desire to advance her education. In my time also, though Goldie and I are separated by decades, pharmacists or druggists, as my family called them, were like doctors. We sought their help first, when we had medical problems. They were always available and happy to help. They made the medications themselves and were on call 24/7 in the neighborhood store. I am also very familiar with the places mentioned in the book, like Brownsville, Flatbush, Betsy Head Park, Sutter Avenue and Coney Island. Jewish crime is mentioned in the book, and I was very well aware of the existence of the Jewish mob, since the daughter of a gangster lived not too far from me. Therefore, I connected with the book, even though Goldie and I lived decades apart.
Although the author seems to glorify the retirement community, I find that if they are not defined as second-home communities, but, instead are defined as the next step in life, retirement, than they more closely resemble G-d’s waiting room. Although my familiarity with Augusta’s background enhanced my pleasure reading this book, I don’t believe it is necessary. The story is delightful. show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
- Original publication date
- 2024
- People/Characters
- Augusta “Goldie” Stern; Irving Rivkin; Solomon Stern; Esther; Nathaniel Birnbaum; Harriet Dornbush (show all 14); Bess Stern; Zip Diamond; Lois Diamond Rivkin; Mitzi Diamond; Evie Sussman Birnbaum; George; Jacqueline “Jackie” Esther Rosenthal; Shirley
- Important places
- Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, USA; Rallentando Springs, Florida, USA
- Epigraph
- When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments... (show all) of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face….
—-William Butler Yeats, “When You Are Old” - Dedication
- In loving memory of my father, Harris Cohen, and
my father-in-law, Barry Loigman - First words
- Augusta Stern did not want to retire.
- Quotations
- “…To ignorant men, every gifted woman is a witch.”
“Words can do anything,” she said. “A kind word can fix a person's spirit. A cruel one can break a person's heart. Wicked words have caused wars, and honest words have made peace. Why shouldn't they be able to heal?”
That was the nice thing about spending time with a person you'd known for almost all of your life—the memories you share grew even more vivid when you remembered them together. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She believed that the world still held a bit of magic for those who were patient and wise enough to wait.
- Blurbers
- Van Pelt, Shelby; Penner, Sarah; Rowley, Steven; Scotch, Allison Winn; Henry, Patti Callahan; Allen, Sarah Addison (show all 7); Monaghan, Annabel
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