The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

I just finished The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern and here are my musings.


Augusta Stern is just about to turn 80. When she moves into an active senior community, the last person she expected to run into is the man who broke her heart 62 years ago. She never knew what caused him to disappear from her life and marry someone else but she always wondered if the elixir she gave him all those years ago was the cause or something else that sent her life on a different trajectory.

Augusta was a badass. She followed in her fathers footsteps which is unheard of in the 1920s. She learned how to become a pharmacist which was insanity during prohibition. Her aunt had a different view on pharmacology, choosing a more herbal root to help the people of Brooklyn. Augusta gets to learn both ways. I loved how strong Augusta is but she never married or had kids because Irving... He was the one who left with her heart.

The writing was phenomenal. I was blown away with the author's ability to weave a beautiful story of love, loss and quiet strength and resilience. The story straddles two timelines. Current day and Augusta's childhood.

I loved the second chance romance. It is always so much more heartwarming when they are seniors. The ending was amazing, I totally understood what happened and why Irving left like he did. Broke my dang heart but you can see how it was an impossible situation.

The book illustrates the differences between men and women and the barriers women have had to overcome.

I also listened to the audiobook and it was absolute perfection! It was my kind of historical fiction!!

5 stars

Thank you to st martins press for my gifted copy