A bestseller in Germany, The Invention of Curried Sausage was tagged a “novella” in the original sense of the word––“a little piece of news.” This news is what author/narrator Timm uncovers about a popular German sidewalk food, curried sausage. Convinced it originated not in Berlin in the fifties as generally supposed, but much earlier in his native Hamburg, Timm tracks down Lena Brücker, now living in a retirement home there. And, yes, curried sausage was her invention but it’s a long story, one cajoled from her during a number of tea-time visits. It all started in April, 1945, just before the war’s end when she met, seduced, and held captive a young deserter. The war was over, the lover escaped, and Lena Brücker, with remarkable ingenuity, went into business. That’s where the sausage comes in! Weaving an ingenious, revealing, and charming tale, Timm is indeed “an extraordinary storyteller” (The New Yorker).