The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
by: Lynda Cohen Loigman
October 8, 2024, St. Martin’s Press
320 pages
Octogenarians are definitely a group underrepresented in publishing. Books depict them as either cutesy eccentric side characters, sage advisors whose advice is usually ignored, or simply not at all. I get it. Publishing is a business and marketing teams worry about their ability to sell books featuring protagonist that aren’t as sexy as a twenty something. In fact, they’ll be even less likely to give a book a chance if the senior citizens involved commit the crime of actually having sec at their age. Thankfully, Lynda Cohen Loigman’s latest historical novel The Love Elixir Of Augusta Stern made it through, and she’s here to show you that retirement community’s have more drama than Melrose Place.
Yes, I realize that Melrose Place references are going to make some of my younger readers think I’m a senior citizen too. That’s OK. This is a review about acceptance of our fabulous selves at all ages, dated Melrose Place references included.
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern toggles between the 1980s when pharmacist Augusta is forced to retire and the 1920s when she was a young girl working in her fathers pharmacy by day and learning Jewish herbalism from her great aunt Esther by night. Augusta meets some surprise blasts from the past at her new retirement community, including Irving who readers will learn from the 1920s portion, is the man that broke her heart. She’s been single for the rest of her life.
The 1920’s bits are full of prohibition era Jewish mobsters, period detail about the kinds of products and services you could find in pharmacies, and also the wisdom of hundreds of years of Jewish women called witches when they solve problems that modern medicine cannot. Augusta feels forced to choose between pharmacy training – a rare opportunity for women in that era- and the gifts of her aunt Esther. While Augusta’s father shows a surprising amount of determination to champion his daughters ability to perform the job of a pharmacist just as well, if not better, than any man, he is vehemently opposed to Esther’s traditional herbal treatments and superstitions. These involve treatments my mother would call bubbie meises even as she forced us all to keep them ‘just in case’.
Things have improved by the 1980s, Augusta is not the only female pharmacist around, but they aren’t perfect. She actually has no desire to retire to sunny Florida. She’s forced to do so by a medical system that pushes her out due to her age, despite her continued stellar job performance.
Now let’s turn to our current day – I like to think Augusta would have been enthused about how many people mix modern medicine with traditions like herbalism, acupuncture, and meditative practice. But be honest – when I opened this review with the word ‘octogenarian’ what did you think? Were you excited to read a book about “old people”? Did you expect a story about finding one’s true love at any age? To laugh out loud and be held in suspense to the point of turning each page rapidly so as to find out how it all ends? Because The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern accomplishes all of those things and more, not in spite of the age of the protagonist but because of it.
I can only hope I’m as vigorous as Augusta when I turn eighty. Unlike her I am actually wishing I could retire sooner rather than later, and this action packed retirement community had me looking to move up that timeline. We need more Augusta’s in our lives and on our shelves. To remind us all that there’s beauty at every stage in life.
Note: BookishlyJewish received an arc of this book from the publisher after we asked them for one.