The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern

Augusta is the chief protagonist and most frequent point-of-view character in the novel. She is the second daughter of Irene and Solomon Stern, a Jewish couple from Brooklyn, who live in the neighborhood known as Brownsville. As a girl, Augusta is close to her older sister, Bess, and to her mother. When her mother dies of diabetes when Augusta is 14, Augusta has her first confrontation with The Limits of Medical Knowledge. Her later refusal to swim in the ocean, which is an activity she associates with her mother, indicates the extent to which Augusta feels broken by this loss.

Loyalty is one of Augusta’s strongest character traits, and when her mother’s aunt Esther comes to stay with the family, Augusta at first resents the changes that Esther makes to their household routine. However, she comes to admire and respect Aunt Esther when she witnesses her intuitiveness about people, her compassion, and her skills as a healer. Esther is the one who nicknames Augusta “Goldie,” and while she first resists this, too, Augusta comes to like the nickname in time, especially when Irving uses it. When Irving breaks her heart, Augusta puts aside her nickname to try to distance herself from her pain.