The Heart-Shaped Tin

Love, Loss, and Kitchen Objects

By: Bee Wilson

Narrated by: Bee Wilson

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 silverplated 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.

©2025 Bee Wilson (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers

This validates all the things I save because it’s about the memories

Loved this book! We all go thru life collecting things even when it’s things we “need”, cooking tools, bikes or even theater ticket stubs. The event shapes our lives and the thing reminds us of that. I collect so many things for this reason and this book gave life to this habit. Thank you!

A smart, sentimental and historic adventure and a must read for chefs

What a great surprise! Can’t wait to read her new one already pre ordered . Highly recommend

Human story. Much love & loss.

The author captured love expressed via food and kitchen objects. A enjoyable read. Nice work.