A review by rachels_booknook
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern: A Novel by Lynda Cohen Loigman

5.0

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @stmartinspress for sending this book for review. Opinions are my own. 

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern isn’t out until October, but when I received an advanced copy, I picked it up, and it was exactly the right time. 

I loved this book. The Jewish representation, the magical realism, the dual timelines of 1920s Brooklyn and 1980s Florida – all of it. At its heart, it is not only a second-chance romance, but a tribute to the people of your past and the lessons they leave behind. 

As a teenager in the 1920’s, Augusta prepares for pharmacy college just like her role model, her father. When she loses her mother, her great-aunt Esther moves in, bringing her unconventional healing remedies ranging from homemade chicken soup to a mysterious array of powders and potions. I loved the stories of the people Aunt Esther helped. Trying to blend methods of her father and her aunt, Augusta searches for a way to save more people, like she wishes she could have saved her mother. 

When Augusta turns eighty she retires to Florida where she gets a second chance with the love of her life, and calls upon the teachings of her long-gone loved ones to help guide her. 

 

I highly recommend picking up this beautiful book when it’s published on October 8.