Overview
One August day, months after her marriage abruptly ended, a heart-shaped baking tin fell at Bee Wilson's feet: the same one she had used to bake her wedding cake twenty-three years prior. This discovery struck a wave of emotions that propelled her search for others who have attached magical and personal properties to the objects in their kitchens. Wilson's bestselling Consider the Fork explored how kitchen items changed the way we eat; in The Heart-Shaped Tin, she delves into how these objects change the way we live. She meets people who open up about a favorite wooden spoon, a salt shaker inherited from a parent, and a vintage corkscrew collection. Our beloved items become powerful symbols of identity and memory, representing friendship, grief, love, superstition, safety, and even political resistance. Crossing continents, cultures, and time periods, Wilson deftly moves between a 5,000-year-old bottle for drinking chocolate and her children's favorite melon baller; a metal spoon made by a Holocaust survivor and her mother's silver-plated toast rack; a bombarded Ukrainian kitchen cabinet and her grandfather's Wedgwood teapot. In telling these stories, she comes to terms with her grief over the dissolution of her marriage and the loss of her mother after a battle with dementia. The heart-shaped tin, in the end, becomes a moving reminder of the power of new beginnings. Thoughtful, tender, and beautifully written, The Heart-Shaped Tin is a celebration of the fundamentally human urge to keep mementos, even in an increasingly rational age. It will change the way you look at both precious family heirlooms and humble household objects.
Full Product Details
Author: Bee Wilson ,
Bee Wilson
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Imprint: Blackstone Publishing
Edition: Unabridged edition
ISBN: 9798228579071
Publication Date: 03 January 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.
Reviews
""The ultimate food scholar."" -- ""Yotam Ottolenghi, chef and restaurateur, praise for the author""
""[A] delightful book, part memoir, part anthropological investigation."" -- ""The Guardian (London)"" ""Extraordinary."" -- ""The Telegraph (London)"" ""Heart-wrenching and heartwarming in equal measure. No one is so good at capturing the everyday magic of kitchens, cooking, and life as Bee Wilson."" -- ""Letitia Clark, author of Bitter Honey"" ""Through this remarkable book, you will find yourself discovering meaning in plates, sadness in spoons, love in a measuring cup. I want to give this book to every cook I know."" -- ""Ruth Reichl, author of The Paris Novel""
Author Information
Bee Wilson is a home cook, journalist, and author of seven food-related books, including The Secret of Cooking, a cookbook. The cofounder of TastEd, she writes for a wide range of publications, including The Guardian, London Review of Books, and New York Times. She lives in Cambridge, England. Bee Wilson is a home cook, journalist, and author of seven food-related books, including The Secret of Cooking, a cookbook. The cofounder of TastEd, she writes for a wide range of publications, including The Guardian, London Review of Books, and New York Times. She lives in Cambridge, England.
