THE HEART-SHAPED TIN ON TOUR

Thank you so much to everyone who has come along to one of the U.K. events for The Heart-Shaped Tin during the nearly three months it has been out. I've never experienced such an emotional reaction to any other book I've written. There has been crying at every one of the events. From me, yes (I cry easily and the passage I have generally chosen to read out has been an excerpt from The Mystery of The Silver-Plated Toast Rack which is about my mother, who died in 2022 and talking about that out loud always makes my voice break). But there have also been tears from audience members talking about their own treasured possessions and how these things connect to people and places they have loved and lost. I have been so moved by the response and so grateful to everyone who has come along. Some highlights are below.

It was very special to do an event at Topping & Company in Edinburgh with Mia Colleran who has been working here this year. Through a lovely coincidence, Mia was one of the editors on my book The Secret of Cooking when she worked at my publisher Fourth Estate and her contributions greatly improved the book. She is now moving from publishing into writing fiction. Remember the name Mia Colleran. I have a feeling her stories are going to be extraordinary.

Another thing that made the Edinburgh event special was hearing from audience members about their own favourite objects: a biscuit tin which called to mind decades of family baking, a Moulinex, a 'tattie masher' and more...

Another event which meant a lot to me was a conversation with Zoltan Bogathy at Culinaris in Cambridge. Not just because Culinaris is one of my favourite food shops (it sells exquisite cheeses, smoked fish, charcuterie, breads, jams, coffee, Japanese foods, artichokes, pasta and so much more) but because Zoltan features in one of the chapters of the book. He is a collector of corkscrews and was generous enough to allow me to interview him about his collection and what it means to him.