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Tea in the Heather
Short stories about a young girl growing up in rural Wales.
79 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
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About the author
Kate Roberts
51 books23 followersKate Roberts was one of the foremost Welsh-language authors of the twentieth century. Known as Brenhines ein llên ("The queen of our literature"), she is known mainly for her short stories, but she also wrote novels. Roberts was also a prominent Welsh nationalist.
Roberts was born in the village of Rhosgadfan, Caernarfonshire (Gwynedd today) where her father (Owen Roberts) was a quarryman in the local slate quarries. She graduated in Welsh at the University College of Wales, Bangor and then trained as a teacher. She then taught in various schools in South Wales.
An early member of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, it was at their meetings that she met Morris T. Williams, whom she married in 1928. Williams was a printer, and eventually they bought the printing and publishing house Gwasg Gee, Denbigh, and moved to live in the town in 1935. The press published books, pamphlets and the Welsh-language weekly Y Faner, for which Roberts wrote regularly. After her husband's death in 1946 she carried on working the press for another ten years.
She remained in Denbigh after her retirement and died in 1985.
It was the death of her brother in the First World War that led Roberts to writing. She used her literary work as a means of coming to terms with her loss.
Her first volume of short stories appeared in 1925 O Gors y Bryniau ("From the Swamp of the Hills") but perhaps her most successful book of short stories is Te yn y Grug ("Tea in the Heather") (1959), a series of stories about children. As well as short stories Roberts also wrote novels, perhaps her most famous being Traed mewn Cyffion ("Feet in Chains") (1936) which reflected the hard life of a slate quarrying family. In 1960 she published Y Lôn Wen, a volume of autobiography.
Most of her novels and short stories have as a background about the region where she lived in north Wales. She herself said that she derived the material for her work, "from the society in which I was brought up, a poor society in an age poverty ... it was always a struggle against poverty. But notice that the characters haven't reached the bottom of that poverty, they are struggling against it, afraid of it." Her work deals with the uneventful lives of humble people and how they deal with difficulties and disillusionments.
Her work is remarkable for the richness of her language and for her perception. The role of women in society and progressive ideas about life and love are major themes in her work.
She also struck up a literary relationship with Saunders Lewis which they maintained over a period of forty years through the medium of letters. These letters give us a picture of life in Wales during the period and the comments of these two literary giants on events at home and abroad.
Many of her works have been translated into other languages.
Roberts was born in the village of Rhosgadfan, Caernarfonshire (Gwynedd today) where her father (Owen Roberts) was a quarryman in the local slate quarries. She graduated in Welsh at the University College of Wales, Bangor and then trained as a teacher. She then taught in various schools in South Wales.
An early member of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, it was at their meetings that she met Morris T. Williams, whom she married in 1928. Williams was a printer, and eventually they bought the printing and publishing house Gwasg Gee, Denbigh, and moved to live in the town in 1935. The press published books, pamphlets and the Welsh-language weekly Y Faner, for which Roberts wrote regularly. After her husband's death in 1946 she carried on working the press for another ten years.
She remained in Denbigh after her retirement and died in 1985.
It was the death of her brother in the First World War that led Roberts to writing. She used her literary work as a means of coming to terms with her loss.
Her first volume of short stories appeared in 1925 O Gors y Bryniau ("From the Swamp of the Hills") but perhaps her most successful book of short stories is Te yn y Grug ("Tea in the Heather") (1959), a series of stories about children. As well as short stories Roberts also wrote novels, perhaps her most famous being Traed mewn Cyffion ("Feet in Chains") (1936) which reflected the hard life of a slate quarrying family. In 1960 she published Y Lôn Wen, a volume of autobiography.
Most of her novels and short stories have as a background about the region where she lived in north Wales. She herself said that she derived the material for her work, "from the society in which I was brought up, a poor society in an age poverty ... it was always a struggle against poverty. But notice that the characters haven't reached the bottom of that poverty, they are struggling against it, afraid of it." Her work deals with the uneventful lives of humble people and how they deal with difficulties and disillusionments.
Her work is remarkable for the richness of her language and for her perception. The role of women in society and progressive ideas about life and love are major themes in her work.
She also struck up a literary relationship with Saunders Lewis which they maintained over a period of forty years through the medium of letters. These letters give us a picture of life in Wales during the period and the comments of these two literary giants on events at home and abroad.
Many of her works have been translated into other languages.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 1, 2025
raamatukoguhoidja tundus ühtaegu resigneerunud ja kergendunud, kui Alice Osemani tagasi viisin ja järjekordse Kate Robertsi laenutasin. "This is much more like you."
õudselt armas raamat tegelikult! siin on üheksa juttu, mille kõigi peategelaseks on Begw Gruffydd, väike tüdruk, kes kasvab üles Caernarfoni lähedal mägedes, isa tal muidugi töötab kiltkivikarjääris, ema peab maja ja kasvatab lapsi. raamatu alguses on Begw neljane ja lõpus üheksane. suurem osa lugudest on lihtsalt pildikesed ühe lapse elust - kuidas on, kui ühel hommikul ärkad üles ja su kallis kass on surnud, või kui ükskord jõulude ajal tulebki päriselt maha lumi nagu vanaaegses pildiraamatus, või kui natuke vanem naabritüdruk kiusab, aga kellegagi peab ju mängima.
midagi siin siiski päriselt juhtub ka - Begw sõbruneb teise, veel vanema naabritüdrukuga, kelle perel ja kellel endal on külas pigem kehv kuulsus ("riff-raff", ütleb jutlustaja proua halvustavalt, ja me näeme, kellelt tema tütar oma kiusamiskombe õppinud on). aga Begw vanemad, kellest alguses on jäänud pigem range ja kalk mulje, võtavad hooletusse (või siis pigem kurja kasuema hoolde) jäetud varateismelise oma kaitse alla. Begw ema aitab tal linna teenistusse minekuks riided õmmelda ja Begw isa korraldab töö juures Winnie isale interventsiooni, et nende riiete jaoks materjal ostetaks.
lõpuks saame kõik jääda mõtlema selle üle, kas Begw enda saatus on ka sama - et kui kolme aasta pärast õnnestub kuskile kellegi toatüdrukuks minna, siis ongi juba elus väga hästi läinud.
kui suureks saan, loen seda raamatut originaalis ka!
õudselt armas raamat tegelikult! siin on üheksa juttu, mille kõigi peategelaseks on Begw Gruffydd, väike tüdruk, kes kasvab üles Caernarfoni lähedal mägedes, isa tal muidugi töötab kiltkivikarjääris, ema peab maja ja kasvatab lapsi. raamatu alguses on Begw neljane ja lõpus üheksane. suurem osa lugudest on lihtsalt pildikesed ühe lapse elust - kuidas on, kui ühel hommikul ärkad üles ja su kallis kass on surnud, või kui ükskord jõulude ajal tulebki päriselt maha lumi nagu vanaaegses pildiraamatus, või kui natuke vanem naabritüdruk kiusab, aga kellegagi peab ju mängima.
midagi siin siiski päriselt juhtub ka - Begw sõbruneb teise, veel vanema naabritüdrukuga, kelle perel ja kellel endal on külas pigem kehv kuulsus ("riff-raff", ütleb jutlustaja proua halvustavalt, ja me näeme, kellelt tema tütar oma kiusamiskombe õppinud on). aga Begw vanemad, kellest alguses on jäänud pigem range ja kalk mulje, võtavad hooletusse (või siis pigem kurja kasuema hoolde) jäetud varateismelise oma kaitse alla. Begw ema aitab tal linna teenistusse minekuks riided õmmelda ja Begw isa korraldab töö juures Winnie isale interventsiooni, et nende riiete jaoks materjal ostetaks.
lõpuks saame kõik jääda mõtlema selle üle, kas Begw enda saatus on ka sama - et kui kolme aasta pärast õnnestub kuskile kellegi toatüdrukuks minna, siis ongi juba elus väga hästi läinud.
kui suureks saan, loen seda raamatut originaalis ka!
May 12, 2019
Beautifully written novella or short stories about a young girl named Begw and her 'riff-raff' friend Winni growing up in rural Wales. Kate Roberts' "Te yn y grug" was translated from the Welsh, making it accessible to a larger audience. As stated in the introduction, one can gain insight into the historical Caernarfonshire through this literary version of it: "Literature is not history, though it becomes history, and much before that it uses history. It also assumes a representativeness that modern history abhors."
Four stars and maybe I should really read the Original, I might be able to understand it even though my vocabulary is limited.
Four stars and maybe I should really read the Original, I might be able to understand it even though my vocabulary is limited.
June 9, 2011
Tea in the Heather is a series of short episodes in the life of a young Welsh girl, Begw. Though, as Derec Llwyd Morgan says in the introduction, Winni is really the shining star of the collection.
There's not much to it, really: it's a little slice of life in a small Welsh village. It was based on the world Kate Roberts knew, so it's a realistic depiction.
The translation from the Welsh is quite good, but the dialogue isn't always laid out in the most clear/readable of ways.
There's not much to it, really: it's a little slice of life in a small Welsh village. It was based on the world Kate Roberts knew, so it's a realistic depiction.
The translation from the Welsh is quite good, but the dialogue isn't always laid out in the most clear/readable of ways.
July 24, 2023
Delwydd o fywyd canrif yn ôl yn y cefnwlad yng Nghymru dydd yn y llyfr hwn. Mar bywyd yn arw ond rydyn gweld caredigrwydd y bobl sy'n helpu'r cymydog a cefnogi y rhai sy angen. Bydd cymeriad Winni Ffini Hadog yn btw gyda mi. Merch ddewr, gref, ddoniol ac yn y diwedd mae hi'n dechrau ei bywyd eI hun.
February 24, 2018
A quick read with close 3rd person narration following Begw, who is 4 years old at the books start and 9 at the end. It reads like a series of connected short stories, each with a satisfying plot of their own and together forming a more complex but still coherent plot. I was impressed by how full the characters feel in so short a text, even those you meet for just a few pages.
The book left me with a melancholy feeling because of 9 year old Begw's perspective on what the older characters (and this older reader) see as a quite happy ending. I would recommend to anyone, especially those who enjoy literary fiction that captures a young person's perspective.
If you like this book, I'd also recommend What Maise Knew by Henry James. It's been maybe a decade since I read that book, but I remember a similarly clever use of a child's perspective.
The book left me with a melancholy feeling because of 9 year old Begw's perspective on what the older characters (and this older reader) see as a quite happy ending. I would recommend to anyone, especially those who enjoy literary fiction that captures a young person's perspective.
If you like this book, I'd also recommend What Maise Knew by Henry James. It's been maybe a decade since I read that book, but I remember a similarly clever use of a child's perspective.
June 19, 2021
A lovely collection of short stories. I wish I knew more Welsh stories that I could pick up to improve my standard of Welsh as I don't hear much spoken Welsh any more.
April 28, 2022
3.5⭐️
The weird and depressing moments outweighed the sweet wholesome ones for me but overall I think it’s a good book. Will read again in Welsh to see if I like it better
The weird and depressing moments outweighed the sweet wholesome ones for me but overall I think it’s a good book. Will read again in Welsh to see if I like it better
April 21, 2023
Mar arddull yn neis i guess. Ddim be onin disgwl tho
July 8, 2016
This is my first attempt with Roberts, and I did enjoyed her style.
Begw is a young girl from a humble but respectable family.When she sets off with a friend for a picnic on the mountain she gets bullied by Winnie, an older girl, but Begw undersands that there's something else behind Winni attitude. She comes home, she listens to the grown up gossiping and we learn she has a very good and caring mother.
I expected something tragic, or a tale of poverty and distress, but it turned out to be a short story about the harsh but normal life in a rural community. It reminds me of the Italian verismo, which is a literary movement I really like.
Begw is a young girl from a humble but respectable family.When she sets off with a friend for a picnic on the mountain she gets bullied by Winnie, an older girl, but Begw undersands that there's something else behind Winni attitude. She comes home, she listens to the grown up gossiping and we learn she has a very good and caring mother.
I expected something tragic, or a tale of poverty and distress, but it turned out to be a short story about the harsh but normal life in a rural community. It reminds me of the Italian verismo, which is a literary movement I really like.
August 2, 2018
Ardderchog.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews