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 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?

Adele’s Review:

OMGoodness. I didn’t expect to love this book so much. Not a spoiler alert: The novel is wonderful.

This reviewer typically reviews thrillers, with the occasional women’s fiction or romance novel to round out my reading list. I rarely read historical fiction. Almost never. And not in a long time. So, I surprised myself when I accepted the invitation to read The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern when it arrived in my mailbox. There was something about the beautiful book cover and story description that lured me, despite my having next to nothing in common with the protagonists.

Except–I’m a grandmother. And I clearly remember when my widowed grandmother met and married the love of her life at age seventy-six. Before she died at the age of eighty-two, she told me the six years of her second marriage were the happiest of her life. The vivid memories of her joyful marriage caused me to wonder if eighty-year-old protagonist Augusta Stern would find happiness too. Who couldn’t love Augusta, a woman who lies about her age to delay forced retirement, claiming to be a younger woman of seventy. Who can resist that form of resolve and optimism?

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is told in alternating timelines of the 1920’s and 1980’s. The characters are so well crafted they seem real. It feels perfectly natural to care for them and cheer for them, since they endear themselves to the reader page by page. Age, geography, and cultural differences fade away with each chapter of this charming story. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is not to be missed. Highly recommended.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6664052254

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQHNH4VS