Publication Date: 08th Oct 2024
Genre: Dual Timeline, Romance
3.3 Stars (almost an outliner)
One Liner: No magic realism; not that impressed
1987
Augusta Stern had to finally retire from her job as a pharmacist. She moves to Florida upon her niece’s advice. However, not having a busy routine makes her restless. Add to it the reentry of Irving Rivkin, the delivery boy she knew in her teenage years, disturbs her peace of mind.
As a young girl in the 1920s, Augusta was proud of her father’s pharmacy and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Her great-aunt Esther’s arrival brings many changes in their lives, including the biggest one that leaves Augusta with many regrets.
Sixty years later, can Augusta find a way to move on with her life and spend the remaining time in peace? What happened back then?
The story comes in Augusta’s third-person POV in both timelines, with Irving and other POVs at random.
My Thoughts:
I’m more of an outliner for this. I wish I could have liked it more.
Firstly, there is no magic realism here. There’s possibly an attempt made but it is just fancy descriptions and wishful thinking. Every healer woman is not a witch nor does she work with magic even if people think otherwise.
This is mainly a second-chance romance for characters in their 80s. While it is great to read books with senior citizens where they lead active lives, seeing the MCs act childish doesn’t really feel heartwarming. I did empathize with the FMC’s resentment to an extent.
The side characters like Esther and Shirley could have had more development. Esther especially could have been a lot more than what she ends up here. It would have also helped create a more definite setup for magic realism. And a special yay to Jackie. Love her!
I do like the topics chosen – women in medicine, gender bias, parental death, medical advancements, bullying, mafia, etc. However, when I realized the core of the plot rests on miscommunication (or the lack of communication), I lost interest. It’s bad enough to read 30 and 40-year-old characters making a mess of relationships. These people are in their 80s and still cannot have a decent conversation until the end!
Also, the 1987 (present timeline) feels like it is set in the 2000s. My guess is that the age was calculated from the 1920s to decide when the present timeline should be. However, the rest of it feels more contemporary (like after 2010) except for the lack of mobile phones and social media.
The pacing dips in the middle. Though we see both timelines, there isn’t much movement in the present one.
We get the first chapter from Irving’s POV around 35% or so. By then, I was sure this would continue in Augusta’s. The sudden change pulled me out of the story. We also get a few scenes from the omnipresent third-person. The changes should have been introduced earlier. For example, having the first Irving’s chapter at 10-12% would have set the pattern for the rest of the book.
The Jewish rep is well done without providing too much detail but making it stand out just the same.
To summarize, The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is a cozy read about first love, second chances, missed opportunities, misunderstandings, and women in medicine. I wish I liked it more but it is not a bad book by any means. Guess I wasn’t in the mood for it.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for eARC. T
#NetGalley
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