A Letter to Librarians from Lynda Cohen Loigman

In THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN, Lynda Cohen Loigman explores how love and healing can be found in unexpected places—and how a bit of magic in each can go a long way. Today, Lynda joins us with a letter to librarians to share how libraries make an impact, even for the characters in her books.

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Dear Librarians,

As I write this, summer is in full bloom, with flowers to admire, vegetables to pick, and—if we’re lucky—extra time for reading. We all have special summer memories, but whenever temperatures begin to rise, I find myself thinking back to the many days I spent at Storrs Library in my hometown of Longmeadow, Massachusetts.

Storrs Library was renovated years ago, but in the 1970’s, the children’s room was in the basement. I don’t remember whether the building was air-conditioned, but even on the hottest days, that room was always deliciously cool. There was nothing I looked forward to more than the library summer reading program. For me, like for so many of us, the library was the most exciting place to be.

Perhaps this is why all of my novels feature characters who are prolific readers. In THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE, Judith escapes homelife tensions by visiting her local library. In THE WARTIME SISTERS, Ruth can’t understand why her sister doesn’t love reading as much as she does. In THE MATCHMAKER’S GIFT, it is only by reading her grandmother’s journals that Abby learns the full truth of her past.

My forthcoming novel, THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN, is, of course, no exception. When we meet Augusta, she is almost eighty years old, a newly retired pharmacist who has just moved to a Florida retirement community. On her first night, Augusta turns to a book—her father’s battered copy of the U.S. Pharmacopeia—for comfort. When she runs into Irving Rivkin (the delivery boy from her father’s pharmacy and the man who broke her heart 60 years earlier), she has no idea how her love of reading inspired Irving throughout his life. As surprised as she is when she first encounters him, Augusta is even more shocked when he shows up at her book club! For youthful Augusta, books supply the confidence she lacks in other areas of her life. When she and Irving first connect, Augusta doesn’t know the first thing about flirting. “Other girls might have preferred to be observed when they were at their most beautiful or beguiling— all dressed up for a weekend dance or performing onstage in the school play. Not Augusta . . . She was always most poised with a pencil in her hand, most confident with a book spread beneath her long fingers.”

Throughout my new novel, Augusta finds strength in the company of books. As readers follow her from 1920’s Brooklyn to 1980’s Boca Raton, from pharmacy college to retirement, they will recognize a fellow admirer of prose and a woman who believes in the power of words.

THE LOVE ELIXIR OF AUGUSTA STERN is a love letter to ambitious women, to family, to perseverance, and to second chances. It is a reminder that it is never too late to reclaim the magic of our youth. I hope that you and your patrons find joy in the pages of Augusta’s story.

With love and thanks,
Lynda Cohen Loigman