'Extraordinary' TELEGRAPH ¿¿¿¿¿ 'Bee Wilson is one of my favourite writers and this may be her
best book' CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN This strikingly original account from award-winning food writer
Bee Wilson charts how everyday objects take on deeply personal meanings in all our lives. One
ordinary day the tin in which Bee Wilson baked her wedding cake fell to the ground at her
feet. This should have been unremarkable except that her marriage had just ended. Unsettled by
her own feelings about the heart-shaped tin Wilson begins a search for others who have
attached strong and even magical meanings to kitchen objects. She meets people who deal with
grief or pain by projecting emotions onto certain objects whether it is a beloved parent's
salt shaker a cracked pasta bowl or an inherited china dinner service. Remembering her own
mother a dementia sufferer she explores the ways that both of them have been haunted by
deciding which kitchen utensils to hold on to and which to get rid of when you think you are
losing your mind. Looking to different continents cultures and civilisations to investigate
the full scope of this phenomenon Wilson blends her own experiences with a series of touching
personal stories that reflect the irrational and fundamentally human urge to keep mementos. Why
would a man trapped in a concentration camp decide to make a spoon for himself? Why do some
people hoard? What do gifts mean? How do we decide what is junk and what is treasure? We see
firsthand how objects can contain hidden symbols keep the past alive and even become powerful
symbols of identity and resistance from a child's first plate to a refugee's rescued vegetable
corers. Thoughtful tender and beautifully written The Heart-Shaped Tin is a moving
examination of love loss broken cups and the legacy of things we all leave behind. 'This is
both a memoir of a divorce and a sweeping cultural commentary ... A fascinating and
heartwarming read' The Times & Sunday Times Best Summer Reads 2025 'This beautifully written
book about the deep significance of certain objects in our kitchen - is nothing less than an
intense compassionate expression of the human condition ... Both intimate and expansive The
Heart-Shaped Tin is a book I know I'll give urgently and importantly to those I love' Nigella
Lawson 'I loved this book ... Very few food writers can do what Bee does. It made me think
again - and with more tenderness - about the kitchen objects that I ordinarily take for
granted. These are the human stories embedded in our material culture and Bee brings them
effortlessly to life' Ruby Tandoh 'Heart-wrenching and heart-warming in equal measure. No one
is so good at capturing the everyday magic of kitchens cooking and life as Bee Wilson' Letitia
Clark 'Bee Wilson has changed the landscape of the kitchen by breathing life into ordinary
objects. 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 'A moving and fascinating exploration of the vital role played by household objects in
our love of home and family' Sophie Hannah
