The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

“To his customers, he was priest and rabbi, social worker and secret keeper. The precision with which he formulated his treatments—whether pills or powders, creams or tinctures—was lauded by everyone in the neighborhood. His medicines made everyone well.”

This introduction of Solomon Stern and his work at Stern’s Pharmacy establishes the background for Augusta’s love of pharmacy and also introduces the status that Solomon holds. The analogy to a rabbi suggests his remedies have nearly a sacred power. The reverence accorded to healers is a theme of the novel, as are questions about what medicine can and cannot heal.

“It makes no difference what anyone calls me. I know exactly who I am.”

Esther’s declaration speaks to the theme of The Persistence of Identity, which surfaces in various ways throughout the novel, including a meditation about what aspects of one’s identity persist throughout life. Esther, who is nearly 90 at this point, has earned her self-knowledge, and she serves as a foil to young Augusta, who is only beginning to understand her passions.

“You can’t give up something that brings you joy just because it is difficult. Or because there may be a risk.”

The advice Augusta’s mother gives her speaks to a deep paradox in Augusta’s life as an adult. Augusta succeeds as a pharmacist, persisting even when aspects of her career prove difficult. However, she gives up on certain things that bring her joy, such as making Esther’s remedies, and she also avoids romantic relationships because she might get hurt. 

“It doesn’t matter how old we get, Augusta thought. Some things never seem to change.”

These lines highlight the theme of The Persistence of Identity, with Augusta observing how the men around the pool at the retirement home flirt with Shirley. However, these lines take on a deeper meaning as the novel goes on to explore how its characters’ loves and fears have remained the same for years. 

“She forgot about her nightmare. She forgot about the glass of water she’d come for. She forgot about everything but Esther’s words and the rhythm of her voice.”

When Augusta first sees Esther at work preparing one of her remedies, she finds the experience magical. The dark, cozy kitchen is a contrast to the precise and measured business that Solomon conducts downstairs in the pharmacy, but Augusta marvels at both as avenues of healing. Esther’s healing practices offer an alternative pathway to the pharmaceutical science that Solomon adheres to.

“Being a pharmacist is more than filling prescriptions. […] [I]t can also mean protecting people from themselves.”

One of the lessons that Augusta learns from her father is that a healer needs to respect confidentiality and, at times, act for the patient’s benefit when they cannot or will not choose to do so themselves. Though Irving is not a pharmacist, the novel will go on to show how he, too, will act to protect the people he cares about from harm, even though they initially do not understand his actions.

“Listen to me now, Goldie, and remember what I tell you. You must never treat anyone without permission.”

Esther communicates to Augusta an important tenet of ethical health care, which requires the patient’s informed consent. In an ironic turn, Irving’s marriage to Lois initially seems to be an unpleasant consequence of Augusta administering the love elixir to him without his consent. Augusta and Esther were both rejected by the men they loved after administering the elixir to them, and this is one of the several connections between the women.

“‘Words can do anything,’ [Esther] said. ‘A kind word can fix a person’s spirit. A cruel one can break a person’s heart. Wicked words have caused wars, and honest words have made peace. Why shouldn’t they be able to heal?’”

The words and music that Esther adds to the preparations of her remedies are a recurring motif, and their recitation imbues a magical quality to her cures. Esther’s advice to Augusta about the power of words is part of her instruction in healing, providing an alternate method to Solomon’s prescriptions. However, it is also a metafictional statement about the power of words and stories.

“Don’t offer to do him any favors. You’re a smart young man with a bright future ahead of you. If he gets his hooks into you, he won’t want to let go.”

At first, Irving follows this advice from Solomon Stern, whom he regards as a father figure. Solomon characterizes Zip Diamond as manipulative and predatory, with the metaphor of “gets his hooks into you” evoking an image of getting caught or trapped, like prey.

“I could offer many more interpretations, but the point is, there isn’t one explanation. Things are never as straightforward as we want them to be, Goldie. Why must I choose a single solution when the truth lies somewhere in between them all?”

After Harriet Dornbrush conceives, Esther tries to explain to Augusta that many factors could be in play, and cause and effect are not always straightforward. Esther understands complications and nuance, while Augusta tends to see things in clear, straightforward terms. Only later, near the end of the book, does she come to understand that truths can be meandering and various, as when she realizes the factors that came into play in Irving’s choice to marry Lois.

“How could her father ask her to choose between the enigmatic splendor of Esther’s work and the solid satisfaction of his own? Between the thrill of a patch of kitchen moonlight and the security of the prescription room? Why couldn’t he see that they were equally powerful? Why couldn’t he appreciate the beauty in both?”

This quote explores the tension between two distinct worlds: the mystical, intuitive practices represented by Aunt Esther and the structured, empirical approach represented by Augusta’s father. This is highlighted through contrasting images, such as the magic of “kitchen moonlight” with the clinical “prescription room.” Augusta sees the appeal of both traditions, and, in the end, she integrates both, which is in line with the novel’s arc of Moving From Loss to Restoration.

“In the water, Augusta could remember the subtle magic of her youth. In the water, Augusta could remember what it felt like to be brave. In the water, Augusta could finally forgive.”

The anaphora that begins these lines works like a magical incantation, describing the change coming over Augusta. By swimming next to Irving in the pool, she feels closer to Irving, to her mother, and to the optimism of her youth. Her ability to forgive Irving for what she felt as his betrayal is an important movement in Augusta’s character arc.

“He’d never told her that he’d become a swimmer, too; never explained how, after his marriage fell apart, he tried searching for solace doing what [Augusta] loved.”

When Augusta re-enters Irving’s life, he reveals the ways she has influenced him: He pursued literature and swimming because she was interested in them. These shared pursuits help create and nurture the connection that he feels to her even 62 years later.

“Imagine what that did to my father—he had a room full of medicines that couldn’t help my mother; a room full of medicines that were essentially useless to save the one person he loved the most in this world.”

Solomon Stern is the character in the book who is most defined by his loss—he is an example of enduring grief. He felt helpless and at the same time responsible for not being able to heal his wife. Augusta feels the same overwhelming loss when she could not help Esther, and that steered her away from following in Esther’s footsteps as an herbal practitioner.

“To ease the pain of those who suffer / To repair the bodies of those who are ill / To restore the minds of those in need.”

These are the words inscribed in Esther’s mortar, and these are the words she repeats when preparing her remedies. She asks Augusta to feel the words as she says them, which teaches Augusta about the power of intention. Notably, the sentiment behind the words is for healing, which fits with the way Esther dispenses her remedies—never for harm or for selfish reasons, but always to help bring ease.

“Sometimes, no matter the powders or words, a person’s time on this earth must end. There is no magic any of us have that can make someone live forever.”

This quote highlights The Limits of Medical Knowledge. While Augusta’s father teaches her discipline and is a model of compassion, Esther teaches Augusta about discernment and tries to remind her that a healer cannot control outcomes or defeat mortality. Augusta has a hard time accepting this, which heightens her grief after Esther dies and Augusta feels she failed to help her.

“Oh, how she wanted to be that woman again—a woman who, yes, had suffered losses, but whose heart had not yet been broken beyond repair. A woman who was curious and hopeful and who still believed in the glimmers of magic that made their way quietly into the world.”

This passage captures Augusta’s emotions when she is reunited with old friends and people she loves—Irving, Nathaniel, Jackie, and Shirley. She is inundated by memories and feels deeply in touch with her younger self. This connection speaks to The Persistence of Identity.

“He’d been angry about that evening for so long that the rage had become a part of him. He could feel it sometimes, just below his skin, like a stinger from a bee that would not be drawn out. The poison had become a permanent reminder of the punishing twists and turns life could take.”

The analogy of an embedded stinger, or poison, illustrates how deeply Irving blames Nathaniel for the night his life changed. The “stinger” is a metaphor for unresolved pain, emphasizing that it still causes Irving to suffer. With time, this anger has become a part of his identity.

“Sixty-two years later, I’m feeling the same foolish feelings. Falling for the same dumb tricks. Misreading the same old signals. I may have turned eighty years old today, Jackie, but I’m still as stupid as I was at eighteen!”

Augusta’s phrasing collapses the distance between the separate timelines of the novel, helping to unite and connect both narrative strands as the present day becomes a continuation of the interrupted love story from the past. Augusta’s conflict, however, stems from her belief that Irving didn’t really care for her and she was foolish to fall—and remain—in love with him. Because of this, she is reluctant to confess her feelings.

“She sang for the years she would have with her husband, for the love she would shower on her children. She sang for every joyful day, for every warm and tender night. She sang for the brilliant future she wanted and for the life she hoped to make.”

Augusta’s preparation of the love elixir for Irving contains a deep irony because Augusta will not achieve the hopes she imagines. In a further irony, the reader is led to suspect that losing Irving might be the consequence Augusta suffers for not heeding her aunt’s warning about the potion and administering it to Irving without his knowledge or consent—according to Esther’s ethics, manipulation is a wrongful use of her power.

“The brass smelled faintly of all it had absorbed—every herb and leaf, every stick and root, every entreaty and supplication. How many powders and potions had Esther and her ancestors concocted with these instruments? How many illnesses had been squelched, how many men and women aided by the teas and tinctures these tools had wrought?”

The object phrases list the physical ingredients of Esther’s mixtures in tandem with their intentions, as if these all together comprise the remedies. For Augusta, the significance of the mortar is the way it feels imbued with all the healing it has been a tool for accomplishing. The repetition of the phrase “How many” highlights the connection to a long-standing tradition, which adds weight and an almost mystical quality to Esther’s abilities.

“When I am gone, you will take my case. You will take my mortar, my pestle, my robe. You will learn everything you can at school and be the best of both your father and me.”

Though Solomon sees Esther’s alternative medicine as the opposite of the Western medicine he believes in, Esther believes Augusta can fuse the best of both worlds. Esther’s words here have the rhythm or a spell or incantation, with their predictive quality, emphasizing the power of words that Esther believes in.

“For a moment, Augusta could remember what it felt like to believe—not in the magic of witches or fairies, but in the magic of women who knew how to heal; the magic of women in the quiet of their kitchens.”

The increasing connections between the separate timelines of the novel begin to restore Augusta with the elements she felt robbed of in the earlier timeline. Not only does she have Irving again, along with her friend Nathaniel, but Jackie also brings her Esther’s mortar. By reconnecting with her memories of her aunt, Augusta feels restored to her younger self and empowered in her strength as a woman.