The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

Augusta wants to help Esther, but she sleeps through the preparations for the love elixir, which Esther says is a difficult, complicated recipe. Esther prepares Shabbos dinner and brings out the wine they are allowed to have for religious purposes. Esther puts her powder into Bess’s wine. When George arrives for dinner, Bess stares at him adoringly. He proposes, and Bess serenely accepts. Later, Bess describes her experience of taking the elixir and tells Augusta that someday, she will discover her purpose in life, either with or without Esther’s recipes.

Irving knows he hurt Augusta when he left New York, but he lacked the courage to get in touch with her and tell her the truth, even after Lois left him. He decides he won’t hurt her again, and he feels hopeful when Augusta begins swimming with him in the mornings. After Vera argues with Augusta in the clubhouse, Vera comes to Irving’s door and dumps a Jell-O mold on his head. Later, Augusta invites Irving to her birthday dinner but makes him promise to get along with Nathaniel.

Irving goes to the department store to buy his mother a new winter coat, but he is disappointed when he realizes that even the sale coats are more than he can afford. He encounters the Diamonds in the store, and when Mitzi Diamond learns why Irving is there, she arranges to get a second coat free with her purchase. Zip tells Irving that Mitzi likes him and he should keep it that way.

Augusta reflects on how distinguished Nathaniel is compared to Irving, who wears T-shirts and scuffed sandals. She and Nathaniel discuss how they miss their work and their struggles with adjusting to retirement. Irving, who overhears this conversation, mocks Nathaniel and mentions he had a crummy job he was glad to leave. Irving reveals that by the time the family moved to Chicago, Zip was slowing down and Mitzi was making most of the decisions.

While Bess prepares for her wedding, Augusta spends time with her friend Evie. Mitzi Diamond visits Evie’s family’s bakery when Evie’s parents are preparing for her birthday party. Mitzi doesn’t like the people Lois hangs out with, so she arranges for her to attend Evie’s party. The other girls are curious about the sophisticated Lois and talk to her while Evie waits for Nathaniel to arrive. Lois suggests to Augusta that Irving is just being friendly to her because he works for Augusta’s father. When Augusta retorts that Lois doesn’t know Irving, Lois says she could know him better if she wanted to.

Shirley takes Augusta shopping for a dress for her birthday party. Augusta vetoes all the gowns, including a pink one that makes her recall that she’d last worn pink on that terrible night at Acadia Gardens all those years ago. Augusta tells Shirley about her mother’s death from diabetes and how her father, after that, lost himself in his work. Augusta speaks of how she, too, wanted to be a pharmacist and how her father defended her to customers who didn’t want to be helped by a woman. After losing both Irving and Aunt Esther, Augusta, too, threw herself into her work. She dated but never met anyone she wanted to marry. She ran the pharmacy after her father’s death but moved when the neighborhood became dangerous. The only place that would hire her was a hospital, but when they wanted her to retire, she doctored her paperwork, with Jackie’s help, and got a job at a different hospital. Shirley reminds Augusta that though she might have followed in her father’s footsteps professionally, he had a partner he loved.

Esther becomes known for treating women’s ailments, which is why Mitzi Diamond visits. The symptoms of menopause are bothering Mitzi, and Esther agrees to help. Augusta helps Esther with preparing the remedy, and the two of them repeatedly sing the words inscribed in the mortar as they work. When Augusta asks if she did something wrong while making the remedy, Esther reminds her that she must learn patience and not always look for the easiest answers. She reminds Augusta that illnesses cannot be cured with powders or incantations; the outcome is often uncontrollable. Still, Augusta wonders if Esther could have saved her mother. Esther tries to tell Augusta that medicine is not magic, and no one can live forever.

Augusta is excited the morning Jackie is to arrive. Irving recalls how George looked out for him, even slipping him food when he was hungry. Irving thought Solomon wasn’t looking, but Augusta tells him her father knew. She reflects how nice it is to share these memories with someone. When Augusta goes to the airport to meet Jackie, the families she sees there remind her of her yearning to have a family. She reflects on how she has always felt close to Jackie. Shirley is delighted to meet Jackie, too, and they chat about Augusta’s party.

Augusta learns from her father that racketeers like Zip Diamond are forcing pharmacies to supply them with liquor, since pharmacists can get whisky directly from the US government. Solomon is worried that Zip might try to force Solomon to work for him. Mitzi Diamond, who benefits from Esther’s treatments, begins visiting often, though Esther refuses to let Mitzi take advantage of her. Solomon is upset, warning that Mitzi must be a cruel person since she is Zip’s wife.

Jackie has brought Augusta a dress that reminds her of Esther. Augusta speaks of her aunt to Jackie, who has also heard stories about Esther from Bess. Augusta tries on the dress and is caught up in a reverie as “the woman in the mirror reminded her of someone she’d forgotten long ago” (210).

Augusta and Irving put the gifts away after George and Bess’s wedding, and they then find it is snowing. Augusta doesn’t want to ruin her shoes, so Irving carries her back to the pharmacy. They kiss, and Augusta is lost in the moment. Irving tells Augusta that she is beautiful and intelligent, and she feels that he sees her clearly. She remembers Lois’s remark and doesn’t want to tell people she and Irving are seeing one another, but when she finally tells her father, Solomon isn’t surprised. He says that Augusta’s love for Irving is obvious.

Augusta visits the clubhouse library and finds Irving there, reading for a university class he is taking. He reveals that he read the volume of Robert Frost poetry she gave him, and Augusta feels overwhelmed by the way their past keeps intruding on their present. She declares that she’s going to organize the library, and Irving says the lack of organization lets people find something new. She snaps that she knows how people change their minds, and she leaves. Irving doesn’t know what he said wrong and runs after her to apologize.

Esther makes her love elixir for a client named Fanny Lowenstein to help her decide if she wants to stay with her husband, who has been having affairs. One ingredient is an emerald clover that Esther calls “raskovnik.” The drink helps Fanny find clarity and realize she no longer loves her husband. Esther says the drink is powerful but dangerous, telling Augusta that she lost someone she loved because she was impatient. She cautions Augusta against doing the same.