Augusta and Bess had always helped their father in his pharmacy below their NY apartment. While Bess, older and beautiful worked the makeup counter, Augusta shadowed her father, confident she would be a pharmacist someday. In the early 1920’s it was not easy for women to become professionals but Augusta was determined and had no doubt this was her future. When their mother became ill and passed away, Great Aunt Esther came to live with the Stern’s and help the family any way she could. As Augusta got older she noticed Aunt Esther had some magical potions of her own. Back in the old country she was called a witch but in America she quietly helped women with natural herbs and tinctures that often had better results than the local doctor. Esther felt Augusta had the gift to heal and these lessons along with her father’s would someday bring Augusta great success. The pharmacy’s delivery boy, Irving Rifkin, had his eye on Augusta since the day he started. Their friendship filled Augusta with joy and she was sure he was the one, until he left town one day with no explanation and broke her heart. Sixty two years later Augusta has finally retired and moves to a retirement community in Boca Raton. She is turning 80 years old and having lost most of the people she loved doesn’t exactly feel like celebrating. One morning swimming her laps in the pool she bumps into Irving. All these years later she doesn’t know how to interpret these feelings of loss and regret and love that still linger. Cleverly narrated between her past and present life, this magical five star read shares life’s many lessons. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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