An effective device ... Although her research chops and deep knowledge of culinary history are evident in this wide-ranging exploration, the core of The Heart-Shaped Tin is a sensitive account of endurance in the face of change .... The chapters devoted to Wilson’s mother....are particularly moving ... Surprisingly comforting.
Wise, engaging ... Perhaps the most profound story here belongs to Jacob Chaim, who, during his years in a Nazi forced-labor camp, secretly crafted a small tin spoon that would come to affirm his sense of humanity ... The tin was only an inanimate object; but in reframing its meaning, she has reopened her heart.
Bee Wilson speaks for many in finding a particular comfort in objects associated with the kitchen ... Wilson’s fascinating study ranges widely ... This kind of book requires the author to find parallels in her own life, and sometimes Wilson’s feel strained ... Her overall thesis, though, is absorbing and persuasive, and her ideas on consumerism strike a chord.
Delightful ... Engaging ... A book concerned with rummaging in other people’s kitchen drawers might start to feel claustrophobic, but Wilson is careful to let the light in.
Engaging, insightful ... She draws together meticulous research ... She found a wealth of...people, and she records their stories with care ... Poignant, thought-provoking, and lavishly detailed ... A moving tribute to the objects that shape our lives in (and out of) the kitchen.
