Hands down my favorite book I’ve read in a long time. I genuinely could not put it down. I loved the dual timelines equally and the growth and arc of Augusta and Irving were both completely believable. The questions of what happened in the past kept me reading for hours on end. All in all this book was a beautiful and engrossing love story that felt tender, light, and impactful.

Full disclosure...this being the first time I've read this author, I had some reservations about the setting. Being an older woman myself, as intriguing as it was to have older folks as the main characters, the fact that they lived in a retirement community in Florida was concerning. I mean, the jokes write themselves, right? Although some can be truly funny, too many are demeaning and cruel. No worries...this author nailed it with warmth and humor that had me laughing out loud.

I was fascinated with the 1920s Brooklyn thread of the story. Not only the Jewish and Eastern European cultures of their neighborhood but also the changes brought by Prohibition, specifically the racketeering. I was unaware that doctors could write prescriptions for alcohol to be filled at pharmacies or the criminality that arose from it. The misogyny that Augusta faced when she went to Fordham's Pharmacy College was infuriating as was the ageism she faced working in hospital pharmacies. To me, what her Great-Aunt Esther faced was far worse. She was highly intelligent and a gifted healer from a long line of women healers but was labeled a witch by ignorant men and a fraud by medical men. Using herbal remedies, she helped so many women with problems that were real but had been dismissed by doctors. Was it magic or Esther's innate diagnostic skills coupled with a deep understanding of botanical properties?

This story is beautifully written with heartbreaking prose interspersed with laugh-out-loud situations in the retirement community. I dearly loved Irving, who at 82 still adores Augusta as he did when they were young. Even after they lost touch, Irving learned to love books because he remembered how important reading was to her. He took up swimming because she enjoyed it, never thinking he might see her again. This book will make you feel that it's never too late for love, a good chicken soup can work wonders, and there might still be a bit of magic in this world if only you have the courage to look for it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this love story decades in the making.
Readers meet Augusta as she is turning 80, retiring, and moving to a senior living community in Florida. Here she runs into Irving, her love interest from her youth. Augusta was in love with Irving and was hoping to marry him, but one night Irving disappeared and married another girl from their neighborhood.
The narration of the novel alternates between building the relationship between Augusta and Irving as teens and their reunion as octogenarians. Readers slowly learn the details of that early heartbreak as they see the present connection rekindle.
Young Augusta and Irving were coming of age in the 1920s, during the era of prohibition. This adds a hint of historical fiction to the narrative.
Readers who enjoy a little romance, a little history, and enjoyable characters will like this novel.

As a big fan of the author’s previous books, I was delighted to get the opportunity to read an advance copy of her latest book. This was a fun read in both of the time periods in the book. I’m not a big fan of magic and there wasn’t too much of it in the book,, so I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the story. The depiction of life in a Florida retirement community was spot on. I love seeing how this population reverts to their high school behavior. I would recommend this book as a light, entertaining read.

I loved Lynda Cohen Loigman's last novel, The Matchmaker's Gift, so when I saw she had a new book being published, I did not waste any time picking it up! The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is such a wonderful story! I really enjoyed reading a book where the protagonist is older. Augusta (Goldie) Stern is almost 80. I liked her immediately. She is intelligent, strong, and driven.

This is a story that brings truth to the fact that the decisions we make throughout life seriously alter its course. It has a bit of a mystery thrown in and is such a heartwarming story.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.

Despite a love elixir having failed twice after the heady potion was consumed twice by the wrong person, this love story picks up sixty years later from where it left off. Beginning in 1920s Brooklyn New York, Augusta Stern’s mother died from diabetes, an illness that remained incurable. Great Aunt Esther comes to live with Augusta, her father who is a pharmacist, and her older sister Bess. Great Aunt Esther, peculiar and old-fashioned, known as a self-proclaimed apothecary of her village in Russia, restores order to the home and cooks aromatic dinners adding herbs that enhance each dish. Augusta soon observes as Great Aunt Esther blends herbs and spices from her wooden apothecary case in an ancient brass mortar and pestle. In Esther’s mysterious way of concocting elixirs, she hums and sways, and sings a tune Augusta doesn’t recognize. With all kinds of herbs, leaves, and seeds, Esther mixes magical and healing elixirs for those in the neighborhood who have become afflicted. Esther teaches Augusta about these elixirs which eventually provide her with a second chance at romance sixty years later.

Lynda Cohen Loigman’s story is a delightful, lyrical, and magical tale that explores grief and its various effects on individuals. Sage life advice is sprinkled throughout with secrets that keep you engaged. This is a story about a budding romance that transcends time, reflecting on the past and present, where joy and sorrow mingle. A curious and hopeful story about the magic that sweetens a bitter heart, soothes a temper and calms a fever.

“The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern” is a dual-timeline magical realism book by Lynda Cohen Loigman. There were huge parts of this book I really enjoyed - the dual timeline (1920s NYC and 1980s Florida). The topic of traditional medicine vs folk medicine. The walls that Augusta broke to follow in her father’s footsteps. The obvious love that a number of characters had for each other - from sisterly love, to friendship love, to devotion and everything in between. I liked the idea of the reuniting of Augusta and Irving and them getting both closure and an understanding of what happened all those years ago. However, one of my least favorite tropes is the miscommunication one - and, sadly, this book was full of moments where I really wanted to shake either character and say “just talk to each other!” However, this book was engaging and I was cheering on the two main characters to get their acts figured out, become friends or at least tolerate each other in their golden years.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

Wow! After reading The Matchmaker's Gift and enjoying it thoroughly, I was excited to receive a copy of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. I started it immediately after downloading it to kindle, and I'm so glad I did. This did not disappoint.

Once again, Loigman successfully combined culture, research, and an enchanting fiction tale into one book. Augusta Stern moved to Florida upon retirement, and is visited by characters of her past. The story flipped between the 1920s and the 1980s, with elements from each time period connected to the other. The reader learns about Augusta's past working with her pharmacist father, as well as with her great aunt, a healer. I was mesmerized by the passages describing the herbs and magical elements employed by her great aunt, along with the medical and scientific pharmaceutical options of the early twentieth century. Throw in a 'missed connections' past love story, and it all comes together in an intriguing manner.

I definitely recommend this to fans of historical fiction, romance, and magical realism. 5 stars!

I loved this book! It was captivating, and I couldn't put it down. It told of family, warmth, and healing in a way that was touching but not saccharine. It referenced Jewish culture in a way that was accessible and inviting but not exclusionsive. I love every book but this author and can't wait to read her next!

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman is a wonderful story of love lost and refound as our main character, Augusta Stern retires from her long time career as a pharmacist to a retirement community in Florida where she meets Irving Rivkin, the first boy she ever loved. Told in dual timelines, we follow them from the 1920s to when they meet again in 1987. An engaging story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN
BY: LYNDA COHEN LOIGMAN

June 1987

It's always daunting to be the first one to leave a review of an ARC, because there aren't any here yet that have been posted. I hope that I can do this fantastic historical novel with some magical realism justice. It feels like extra pressure to do this absolutely STUNNING newest and fourth novel by the lovely, and gifted Author, Lynda Cohen Loigman, enough of the praise that it deserves. I will start with the obvious and say how much I LOVED IT! It's everything I knew it would be and so much more. It lifted my spirits with its spellbinding charm and its dazzling, clever premise. I like the fresh approach by choosing the strong female protagonist who is older for a change, which I don't see this age group represented as much as the younger age group. Augusta Stern has been politely summoned by the new director of human resources for a meeting. The meeting is about forcing her to retire, where she isn't anywhere near ready to take her life in that direction. He says that he has been tasked by the head of the hospital's administration to modernize the workings of his department. In doing so, there's been a close review of the records---dates of licensure, birth dates, etc.--for each and every employee. Where irregularities have been found, his staff has been forced to make further inquiries. He asks Augusta Stern if she has worked in the pharmacy for 15 years, to which she replies yes, knowing where he's going with this. He tells her she's been a valuable member of the institution, and it's not his intention to coerce her in any way, but given her approaching milestone birthday of 70 years old coming up what are her plans? He is wondering if she might be reconsidering retirement? She knows that the dates in her paperwork don't add up is what he's really saying to her in the most respectful manner possible. As much as it pains Augusta, she knows that she has no choice, so with all of her confidence that she can muster up, she decides if she is about to face the end of her career, she is determined to retire with her dignity intact. So she tells him she'll be leaving at the end of the month. The last thing that she wants to do is to stop working. This time there's no getting around it with this sharper new management at the helm. This time she knows that she doesn't have a choice in staying employed.

Can you imagine being forced out of a job that you love? Having no choice in staying when you know you're good at doing the job, never mind it makes you feel productive? How would you feel?

I can't imagine how Augusta feels but I admire the refreshing approach Lynda Cohen Loigman is depicting in this story. I myself have not seen it done before so I applaud this author tackling such a challenging theme by placing her main character at really 79 years old, with a birthday around the corner of turning 80. The majority of the current novels published today have lost my interest because it's the same old tired overdone plots placing young people's angst over and over again. This scores points even though I'm not in this older age bracket, it's unique to see a novel centered around a vigorous woman and the retirement community still living life to its fullest potential.

Augusta Stern's niece Jackie has found her a new community in southern Florida where she has relocated from living in New York City all of her life. Augusta goes down to the pool area to swim her laps and make exercising important. As she is walking away from the pool she hears from a man her age who calls her, "Goldie!" "Is that you Goldie Stern?" Augusta freezes despite the heat and sunshine. "Impossible" She hasn't been called that name in 62 years and it can only be one person. "It's me," he said, as if she didn't know. "Irving Rivkin. Remember?" "Of course I remember," she snapped. "I thought you said you'd never leave New York," Irving said. "And I thought you'd be dead by now." He threw back his head and barked out a laugh. "Still as sharp as ever," he said. "What brings you to Rallentando Springs?" "I moved here yesterday," said Augusta. The whisper of panic in her head grew louder. "Don't tell me you live here, too?" Augusta is shocked to see an older, tanner version, but with those same unmistakable eyes. She hadn't seen him since she was 18 years old, back when she was young, trusting and deeply in love. She was none of those things now. The smile he gives her transports her back to the first day they met, when he was a delivery boy in her father's drugstore. Back to when the lines were still blurry, hope was abundant, and love didn't seem so out of reach. Irving Rivkin winked at her slyly. "You'd better believe it."

June 1922

Augusta Stern grew up in the apartment upstairs above her father's drugstore Everyone within a half mile radius knew her dad, Solomon Stern as the pharmacist at Stern's Pharmacy. They sought his advice for every kind of ailment--from fevers, coughs, insomnia and skin ailments. They carried their children in directly to him as the child was screaming from the playground because he could disinfect a bloody knee with iodine faster than any doctor in town. The people of that area grew up placing a lot of trust in him. Augusta's mother died when she was fourteen years old from diabetes. Within one year later the drug insulin was available and her mother wouldn't have had two years to live if it had been on the market.

I know how devastated I was when my eldest son was six years old and in first grade when he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. I found out by him having a terrible stomach ache for which I made an appointment with his pediatrician at 4:00 PM in the afternoon. Around noon time he was in so much pain he couldn't stand it and I took him to the emergency room at the hospital. His glucose levels were so high they couldn't treat him. So him and I rode down in an ambulance to Boston's Children's Hospital where he has seen the head of Endocrinology ever since. My husband drove down with my youngest son who was three and I remember crying while my son never complained. We had to stay in the hospital for over a week to learn a crash course on how to take care of him. I wish that I could go back in time and have been more comforting to my brave little boy instead of trying to keep myself together from bursting out in tears. I wish I got in bed with him and told him how brave he was while we had to stick a syringe needle into him like a human pin cushion, and lance his figures for blood measuring his blood sugar levels, before and after he ate or drank anything. We had to figure out how many units of insulin to inject by how many carbohydrates he consumed. We had to have him constantly lance his finger to correct high blood sugars. I remember my Uncle told me when we got back from Boston and were visiting that we were lucky. He remembered the days when that diagnosis meant a death sentence just like Augusta's mother.

This left Augusta interested in helping her dad in the pharmacy where her father told her that each person that comes in is to be treated with the utmost confidentiality. He said something like she would only be told that once. Her Great Aunt Esther came to live with them and Augusta was taught the elixirs and herbs to treat many other things that doctors, her father, and medical science couldn't help with, but her Great Aunt Esther's knowledge of holistic poultices would cure. This is where there is some magical realism that is incorporated into the plot. Augusta's Father and her Great Aunt clashed over her curing his customers with her powders, but this added an additional element to this story. It is executed perfectly into the narrative making it more interesting and also increasing the pacing to be faster. This is the kind of story where Augustus learns from her Great Aunt how to treat with tinctures and potions mixed together could help the people of her neighborhood with certain problems sometimes be cured of what her father and doctors couldn't. Before her Great Aunt Esther moved in what she learns from her father strictly what modern medicine cured. Augusta grows up learning how to blend the perfect symmetry of knowing that there were differences between art and science when it came to healing. For some of Aunt Esther's cures you need to suspend belief. For those who haven't read this fantastic author you could try reading her previous historical fiction novel called. "The Matchmaker's Gift," which was just as fantastic and enchanting, but it's totally different in it's premise. Within the above previous novel it could possibly incorporate more magical realism and luck with its similar aim towards helping people. I have read three of this author's previous novels and she is one of my all time favorites who has a fabulous imagination. Her range of writing is vastly different in her first two novels that were published. I think they are just as intriguing page turners, but the only word that I can think of to describe them as is more heavier plots.
The third and fourth ones to me are more whimsical and lighter. It's a compliment to be able to write a different kind of book each time and deliver a great reading experience which I know that I'll be guaranteed each time I read one of this author's books.

When Augusta tries out her Aunt Esther's strongest elixir to gain some clarity there are devastating consequences. She tried that most potent potion right before she was to go off to college to become a pharmacist. With only five other young women in her class against the ratio of two hundred young men.

This was one that I knew without reading the synopsis that I automatically accepted the publicist's offer to read it, and it is another home run that enchanted me. It's light and warmhearted that made me extremely sad to finish it. It's about family, first love, second chances, growing older but living life in the richest way possible. It is at times funny and it has tension to keep you guessing. The characters are all lovable and a delight to immerse yourself in. I had just read a disturbing novel and I knew that this would make me happy. It quickly cheered me up and I wish that I stretched it out to savor it over a longer period of time. I first discovered the excellent author that Lynda Cohen Loigman was several years ago when I read her first novel called, "The Two Family House," and I'm going to read next "The Wartime Sisters,'"which I forgot that I missed it. This one reminded me most of "The Matchmaker's Gift," which I highly recommend all three that I've read. By reading "The Matchmaker's Gift," you will get a general idea about the magical realism. I'm really impressed how this gifted author can write a different range of characters and plot to be both Stunning and Brilliant in the three that I have read. I can't pick a favorite because they are all so terrific and well loved. That would be like asking me to choose who my favorite child was, which is impossible.

Publication Date: October 8,2024

Here is the link to my review called, "The Matchmaker's Gift." : Unbelievable Kindle Unlimited Subscribers can read it for free. You'll love it! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here is the link to my short review called, "The Two Family House." https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... A Bargain at $1.99!

Thank you to Net Galley, Lynda Cohen Loigman and St. Martin's Press for generously providing me with my fantastic eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheLoveElixirofAugustaStern #LyndaCohenLoigman #StMartinsPress #NetGalleyTHE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN
BY: LYNDA COHEN LOIGMAN

June 1987

It's always daunting to be the first one to leave a review of an ARC, because there aren't any here yet that have been posted. I hope that I can do this fantastic historical novel with some magical realism justice. It feels like extra pressure to do this absolutely STUNNING newest and fourth novel by the lovely, and gifted Author, Lynda Cohen Loigman, enough of the praise that it deserves. I will start with the obvious and say how much I LOVED IT! It's everything I knew it would be and so much more. It lifted my spirits with its spellbinding charm and its dazzling, clever premise. I like the fresh approach by choosing the strong female protagonist who is older for a change, which I don't see this age group represented as much as the younger age group. Augusta Stern has been politely summoned by the new director of human resources for a meeting. The meeting is about forcing her to retire, where she isn't anywhere near ready to take her life in that direction. He says that he has been tasked by the head of the hospital's administration to modernize the workings of his department. In doing so, there's been a close review of the records---dates of licensure, birth dates, etc.--for each and every employee. Where irregularities have been found, his staff has been forced to make further inquiries. He asks Augusta Stern if she has worked in the pharmacy for 15 years, to which she replies yes, knowing where he's going with this. He tells her she's been a valuable member of the institution, and it's not his intention to coerce her in any way, but given her approaching milestone birthday of 70 years old coming up what are her plans? He is wondering if she might be reconsidering retirement? She knows that the dates in her paperwork don't add up is what he's really saying to her in the most respectful manner possible. As much as it pains Augusta, she knows that she has no choice, so with all of her confidence that she can muster up, she decides if she is about to face the end of her career, she is determined to retire with her dignity intact. So she tells him she'll be leaving at the end of the month. The last thing that she wants to do is to stop working. This time there's no getting around it with this sharper new management at the helm. This time she knows that she doesn't have a choice in staying employed.

Can you imagine being forced out of a job that you love? Having no choice in staying when you know you're good at doing the job, never mind it makes you feel productive? How would you feel?

I can't imagine how Augusta feels but I admire the refreshing approach Lynda Cohen Loigman is depicting in this story. I myself have not seen it done before so I applaud this author tackling such a challenging theme by placing her main character at really 79 years old, with a birthday around the corner of turning 80. The majority of the current novels published today have lost my interest because it's the same old tired overdone plots placing young people's angst over and over again. This scores points even though I'm not in this older age bracket, it's unique to see a novel centered around a vigorous woman and the retirement community still living life to its fullest potential.

Augusta Stern's niece Jackie has found her a new community in southern Florida where she has relocated from living in New York City all of her life. Augusta goes down to the pool area to swim her laps and make exercising important. As she is walking away from the pool she hears from a man her age who calls her, "Goldie!" "Is that you Goldie Stern?" Augusta freezes despite the heat and sunshine. "Impossible" She hasn't been called that name in 62 years and it can only be one person. "It's me," he said, as if she didn't know. "Irving Rivkin. Remember?" "Of course I remember," she snapped. "I thought you said you'd never leave New York," Irving said. "And I thought you'd be dead by now." He threw back his head and barked out a laugh. "Still as sharp as ever," he said. "What brings you to Rallentando Springs?" "I moved here yesterday," said Augusta. The whisper of panic in her head grew louder. "Don't tell me you live here, too?" Augusta is shocked to see an older, tanner version, but with those same unmistakable eyes. She hadn't seen him since she was 18 years old, back when she was young, trusting and deeply in love. She was none of those things now. The smile he gives her transports her back to the first day they met, when he was a delivery boy in her father's drugstore. Back to when the lines were still blurry, hope was abundant, and love didn't seem so out of reach. Irving Rivkin winked at her slyly. "You'd better believe it."

June 1922

Augusta Stern grew up in the apartment upstairs above her father's drugstore Everyone within a half mile radius knew her dad, Solomon Stern as the pharmacist at Stern's Pharmacy. They sought his advice for every kind of ailment--from fevers, coughs, insomnia and skin ailments. They carried their children in directly to him as the child was screaming from the playground because he could disinfect a bloody knee with iodine faster than any doctor in town. The people of that area grew up placing a lot of trust in him. Augusta's mother died when she was fourteen years old from diabetes. Within one year later the drug insulin was available and her mother wouldn't have had two years to live if it had been on the market.

I know how devastated I was when my eldest son was six years old and in first grade when he was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. I found out by him having a terrible stomach ache for which I made an appointment with his pediatrician at 4:00 PM in the afternoon. Around noon time he was in so much pain he couldn't stand it and I took him to the emergency room at the hospital. His glucose levels were so high they couldn't treat him. So him and I rode down in an ambulance to Boston's Children's Hospital where he has seen the head of Endocrinology ever since. My husband drove down with my youngest son who was three and I remember crying while my son never complained. We had to stay in the hospital for over a week to learn a crash course on how to take care of him. I wish that I could go back in time and have been more comforting to my brave little boy instead of trying to keep myself together from bursting out in tears. I wish I got in bed with him and told him how brave he was while we had to stick a syringe needle into him like a human pin cushion, and lance his figures for blood measuring his blood sugar levels, before and after he ate or drank anything. We had to figure out how many units of insulin to inject by how many carbohydrates he consumed. We had to have him constantly lance his finger to correct high blood sugars. I remember my Uncle told me when we got back from Boston and were visiting that we were lucky. He remembered the days when that diagnosis meant a death sentence just like Augusta's mother.

This left Augusta interested in helping her dad in the pharmacy where her father told her that each person that comes in is to be treated with the utmost confidentiality. He said something like she would only be told that once. Her Great Aunt Esther came to live with them and Augusta was taught the elixirs and herbs to treat many other things that doctors, her father, and medical science couldn't help with, but her Great Aunt Esther's knowledge of holistic poultices would cure. This is where there is some magical realism that is incorporated into the plot. Augusta's Father and her Great Aunt clashed over her curing his customers with her powders, but this added an additional element to this story. It is executed perfectly into the narrative making it more interesting and also increasing the pacing to be faster. This is the kind of story where Augustus learns from her Great Aunt how to treat with tinctures and potions mixed together could help the people of her neighborhood with certain problems sometimes be cured of what her father and doctors couldn't. Before her Great Aunt Esther moved in what she learns from her father strictly what modern medicine cured. Augusta grows up learning how to blend the perfect symmetry of knowing that there were differences between art and science when it came to healing. For some of Aunt Esther's cures you need to suspend belief. For those who haven't read this fantastic author you could try reading her previous historical fiction novel called. "The Matchmaker's Gift," which was just as fantastic and enchanting, but it's totally different in it's premise. Within the above previous novel it could possibly incorporate more magical realism and luck with its similar aim towards helping people. I have read three of this author's previous novels and she is one of my all time favorites who has a fabulous imagination. Her range of writing is vastly different in her first two novels that were published. I think they are just as intriguing page turners, but the only word that I can think of to describe them as is more heavier plots.
The third and fourth ones to me are more whimsical and lighter. It's a compliment to be able to write a different kind of book each time and deliver a great reading experience which I know that I'll be guaranteed each time I read one of this author's books.

When Augusta tries out her Aunt Esther's strongest elixir to gain some clarity there are devastating consequences. She tried that most potent potion right before she was to go off to college to become a pharmacist. With only five other young women in her class against the ratio of two hundred young men.

This was one that I knew without reading the synopsis that I automatically accepted the publicist's offer to read it, and it is another home run that enchanted me. It's light and warmhearted that made me extremely sad to finish it. It's about family, first love, second chances, growing older but living life in the richest way possible. It is at times funny and it has tension to keep you guessing. The characters are all lovable and a delight to immerse yourself in. I had just read a disturbing novel and I knew that this would make me happy. It quickly cheered me up and I wish that I stretched it out to savor it over a longer period of time. I first discovered the excellent author that Lynda Cohen Loigman was several years ago when I read her first novel called, "The Two Family House," and I'm going to read next "The Wartime Sisters,'"which I forgot that I missed it. This one reminded me most of "The Matchmaker's Gift," which I highly recommend all three that I've read. By reading "The Matchmaker's Gift," you will get a general idea about the magical realism. I'm really impressed how this gifted author can write a different range of characters and plot to be both Stunning and Brilliant in the three that I have read. I can't pick a favorite because they are all so terrific and well loved. That would be like asking me to choose who my favorite child was, which is impossible.

Publication Date: October 8,2024

Here is the link to my review called, "The Matchmaker's Gift." : Unbelievable Kindle Unlimited Subscribers can read it for free. You'll love it! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Here is the link to my short review called, "The Two Family House." https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... A Bargain at $1.99!

Thank you to Net Galley, Lynda Cohen Loigman and St. Martin's Press for generously providing me with my fantastic eARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TheLoveElixirofAugustaStern #LyndaCohenLoigman #StMartinsPress #NetGalley

I will be gushing - *mushy-gushing* - over “The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern” for a long time. I loved, loved, loved it!!!
I want to put this novel in the hands of everyone….be it the readaholic or the occasional reader.
THIS BOOK INSPIRES READING …. THE PLEASURES ARE ENDLESS!

We are drawn into the story immediately— becoming compulsively engaged with all that is happening to the characters…..
be it during the 1920’s ….
…..during Augusta Stern’s maturation prime, her passionate interest in medical science and homeopathic alternatives ….
as well as her love and mysterious havoc associated with Irving Rivkin, (who loved to call her Goldie), the delivery boy who worked in Solomon Stern’s drugstore
and…
the 1980’s …. sixty years later…
…..Augusta was almost eighty-years old. After retirement, her niece Jackie orchestrated arrangements for Augusta to uproot from Brooklyn to Florida to live at Rallentando Springs - a lively senior retirement community. Lo and behold, Irving Rivkin is also a resident at Rallentando Springs. The incomplete perplexing past of haunting memories with Irving Rivkin hits Augusta like a ton of bricks.

Both timelines are equally - [honestly equally] - vibrantly imagined, endearing and deliciously intoxicating …..
…..with a terrific supporting cast of characters as well as the beloved main characters — characters who fly off the page and into our consciousness.

Lynda Cohen Loigman (an author no reader will forget after this gem with the warmth and delicacy of her prose), keeps its readers just a tad off balance until its stunning emotionally genuine satisfying finale.
This novel is packed with ingenious asides….. [with a couple of displays of meshuga humor, medical science, historical interests, herbal apothecaries of rich history folklore with a few love incantations, Jewish cultural themes, an array of deeply affecting storytelling delights, and surprising wisdom that gives this novel its ultimate chutzpah.

Augusta Stern grew up in Brooklyn during the twenties. She worked in her father’s drugstore. Her father, Solomon Stern, was a reputable, well-respected pharmacist in their neighborhood.
Augusta, her older sister Bess, Solomon, and Great Aunt Esther all lived upstairs above the drugstore. Mrs. Stern died of diabetes before insulin was discovered.
[note: in 1921, Fredrick Banting, a Canadian surgeon and Charles Best, a medical student, isolated the hormone insulin for the first time. In 1922, Leonard Thompson, a 14-year old boy dying from type 1 diabetes, became the first person to receive an injection of insulin].

Augusta had the passion, and aptitude brainpower to follow in her father’s footsteps. She also had a the heart of a healer…..(much like the unforgettable Great Aunt Esther).

There is so much more I’d love to share and ‘chat’ about with others — I’m trying to hold back —
It’s just way too much fun experiencing all the amazing scenes after scenes, stories after stories….without spoilers….(but it’s killing me not to share more)….
Ha…I’ll survive.
JUST CHOOSE THIS NOVEL. I PROMISE NOBODY WILL BE DISAPPOINTED.

“The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern” a great choice for book club discussions - a great read for seniors - for Jewish readers - those who enjoy stories about families, relationships, love, (but not sappy), for foodies- for those who believe in hope and healing …
It’s a great ‘gift’ book to give your girlfriends, your mother, your grandmother, your neighbor, etc.
It’s a book one does not want to stop talking about.

A mix of old fashion charm and contemporary aliveness!

A few tidbits (from my meshuggah brain):
…..can you imagine paying only 30 cents for a jar of homemade chicken soup?
…..ever eaten an Oh Henry! candy bar? I haven’t. (darn)….but they retired the candy bar in the United States in 2019. I understand you can still buy them in Canada. I want one.
…..Did you know that patent leather was making a comeback in 2024? Shoes, handbags, and other fashion accessories.
…..Ever hear of the word *kinehora*? It’s a Yiddish word….meaning to ward off the evil eye. Or *raskovnik*, in Slavic folklore, it’s a magical herb…..an emerald clover ….leaves that may unlock emotions— open a closed mind.
…..When is the last time you’ve thought about the power of the moon? Especially with respect to self-reflection and emotional awareness?

A few excerpts:
…..”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”.

…..”That was the nice thing about spending time with a person you’d known for almost all your life—the memories you shared, grew even more vivid when you remembered them together”.

…..”Clarity can be a wonderful gift. To see something so unambiguously, to be free of doubt—who wouldn’t want that?”

…..”It was almost too much for her to take in, the way the echos of her past were increasingly finding their way into her present”.

…..”He’d been angry about that evening for so long that the rage had become a part of him. He could feel it sometimes, just below his skin, like a stinger from a bee that would not be drawn out. The poison had become a permanent reminder of the punishing twists and turns life could take”.

…..”For a moment, Augusta could remember what it felt like to believe—not in the magic of witches or fairies, but in the magic of women who knew how to heal; the magic of women in the quiet of their kitchens, who could sweeten a bitter woman’s heart or soothe a man’s temper with a cup of tea. The ones who knew how to bring down a fever, assuage a toothache, or quiet a child with nothing more than a spoonful of honey, a gentle hand, and a few whispered words”.

Soooo much to love….
I laughed….
I cried….
I’m incredibly moved.

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is the latest magical realism novel from the author of The Matchmaker's Gift.

Augusta Stern is an aspiring pharmacist who works at her father's pharmacy in 1920s Brooklyn. Still grieving the death of her mother, Augusta promises herself that she will do whatever she can to help cure others of their ills. When her distant Aunt Esther comes to stay with the Stern family, she brings with her a different type of medicine, one that heals the mind, heart, and soul. With mysterious ingredients, aromatic concoctions, and the power of moonlight, Augusta's Aunt Esther begins healing the locals with miraculous results. When tragedy strikes, Augusta will be haunted by Esther's healing magic her entire life, until the past meets the present in the future.

Folk healing and modern medicine combine in magical ways in this charming story. I loved the old world healing aspects of Aunt Esther and its deep rooted connection to the Jewish and Eastern European cultures. The dual timeline, of Augusta Stern in the 1920s and as an elderly woman in the 1980s was beautiful, as the mystery of her heartbreak was finally able to be solved. The insular community of Brooklyn in the 1920s was fascinating to read about with its interesting characters and social dynamics. I enjoyed reading about the pharmaceutical aspects of the story and how it challenged and questioned the powers of folk medicine and vice a versa. Today, this complicated relationship still exists, and I appreciated that the author nor the characters were forced to choose one over the other, but instead chose to embrace both for different reasons.

Love, sacrifice, and following one's heart are the magical ingredients featured in this story, where it's never too late to fall in love, heal the past, or cure the spirit of its longings, regrets, and mistakes.

Mystical and enchanting, Linda Cohen Loigman has once again told a beautiful tale about the power of love and destiny to heal the heart.