Audiobooks by Bee Wilson

The Heart-Shaped Tin: Love, Loss and Kitchen Objects

"‘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"

Bee Wilson (Author), Bee Wilson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Complicated Women

"In 'Complicated Women', Bee Wilson explores the lives of ten women who achieved notoriety and influence in their own times and whose legacy is still felt today. Her subjects include Maria Montessori, author of the groundbreaking philosophy of child-centred learning, and Hedy Lamar, who developed the ideas behind wifi. For Clara Petacci, power came through her private life, while Alma Mahler faced the choice between creative and personal fulfilment. In this collection of ten biographical essays, originally published in the London Review of Books, Wilson takes a candid look at her subjects and asks what it takes for a woman to make her mark in a world where legitimate sources of power are often denied. A bravura performance is one answer: from the clumsy but audacious fake Spanish dancer Lola Montez to the dazzlingly talented and politically daring Elizabeth Taylor. For the self-effacing Constance Lytton, her greatest act came in prison, exposing the British government's treatment of working-class suffragettes. But perhaps the most complicated accounts emerge from the world of fashion, where Coco Chanel and Vivienne Westwood challenged the way women are allowed to appear in the world. This audiobook also features an introductory conversation between Bee Wilson and Malin Hay, an editor at the LRB and presenter of the LRB Podcast. Subjects covered: Lola Montez, Constance Lytton, Maria Montessori, Alma Mahler, Coco Chanel, Clara Petacci, Edith Piaf, Hedy Lamarr, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivienne Westwood. These pieces have been amended in places from the original for the purposes of recording."

Bee Wilson (Author), Bee Wilson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Way We Eat Now: Strategies for Eating in a World of Change

"We never snacked like this and we never binged like this. We never had so many superfoods, or so many chips. We were never quite so confused about food, and what it actually is. A riveting exploration of the hidden forces behind what we eat, The Way We Eat Now explains how modern food has transformed our lives and our world. To re-establish eating as something that gives us both joy and health, we need to find out where we are right now, how we got here and where we're going. 'My Ultra-Processed journey began when someone sent me [Bee Wilson's] article in the Guardian – it remains the definitive work in my view and her writing continues to inspire so much of what I do' Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People ‘As she wrestles with how and what we eat Bee Wilson is fearless, rigorous, compassionate and totally readable. Thank God we have her’ Diana Henry"

Bee Wilson (Author), Bee Wilson (Narrator)

Audiobook

This Is Not A Diet Book: A User’s Guide to Eating Well

"‘This book can’t give you a six-pack in seven days or the skin of a supermodel. But I can promise that if you make even a few of these adjustments, your eating life will alter for the better in ways that you can sustain.’ This Is Not A Diet Book is a collection of calm, practical tips and ideas on healthier, happier eating from award-winning food writer Bee Wilson. From unsweetening your palate to rethinking the lunchtime sandwich, This Is Not A Diet Book gathers together some of the wisest, most constructive advice for feeding you and your family."

Bee Wilson (Author), Karen Cass (Narrator)

Audiobook

First Bite: How We Learn to Eat

"Fortnum & Mason Food Book of the Year 2016 We are not born knowing what to eat. We all have to learn it as children sitting expectantly at a table. For our diets to change, we need to relearn the food experiences that first shaped us. Everyone starts drinking milk. After that it’s all up for grabs. We are not born knowing what to eat; we each have to figure it out for ourselves. From childhood onwards, we learn how big a portion is and how sweet is too sweet. We learn to love broccoli – or not. But how does this happen? What are the origins of taste? And once we acquire our food habits, can we ever change them for the better? In First Bite, award-winning food writer Bee Wilson draws on the latest research from food psychologists, neuroscientists and nutritionists to reveal how our food habits are shaped by a whole host of factors: family and culture, memory and gender, hunger and love. She looks at the effects siblings can have on eating choices and the social pressures to eat according to sex. Bee introduces us to people who can only eat food of a certain colour; toddlers who will eat nothing but hot dogs; doctors who have found radical new ways to help children eat vegetables. First Bite also looks at how people eat in different parts of the world: we see how grandparents in China overfeed their grandchildren, and how Japan came to adopt such a healthy diet (it wasn’t always so). The way we learn to eat holds the key to why food has gone so disastrously wrong for so many people. But Bee Wilson also shows that both adults and children have immense potential for learning new, healthy eating habits. An exploration of the extraordinary and surprising origins of our taste and eating habits, First Bite explains how we can change our palates to lead healthier, happier lives."

Bee Wilson (Author), Karen Cass (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks by Bee Wilson

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