In conversation with Susan Minot, moderated by Julia Libeskind, at Church of the Redeemer, 11:00 am to 11:50 am
About the author
Lynda Cohen Loigman graduated from Harvard College and Columbia Law School. Her debut novel, The Two-Family House, was a USA Today bestseller and a nominee for the Goodreads 2016 Choice Awards in Historical Fiction. Her second novel, The Wartime Sisters, was selected as a Woman’s World Book Club pick and a Best Book of 2019 by Real Simple Magazine. The Matchmaker’s Gift was named a Best New Book by People Magazine and a Best Book of Fall by the New York Post, Parade Magazine, Buzzfeed, and Good Morning America.com.
MFOB featured book: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs―an active senior community in southern Florida―she unexpectedly crosses paths with Irving Rivkin, the man who broke her heart sixty years earlier.
The mistakes of her past not only haunt her, but greet her every morning at the community pool. Did Irving ever truly love her or was he just playing a part? How can he act as if nothing happened all those years ago? And, can she reclaim the magic of her youth before it’s too late? To answer these questions, Lynda Cohen Loigman masterfully alternates between Brooklyn in the 1920s and southern Florida in the late 1980s, unfurling Augusta and Irving’s story with deeply moving prose, old-world charm, tremendous heart, and humor.
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern is a love letter to the members of the author’s family who helped inspire it; her husband’s great grandmother—a 1921 graduate of Fordham’s College of Pharmacy and the namesake of her title character—and her late father, whose social life at the assisted living facility where he lived in southern Florida was a reminder that age doesn’t change who we are, that second chances are always possible, and that it’s never too late to try and recapture the lost magic of our youth.
