Clever, yet comic and riveting, this Victorian comedy of manners was first published in 1883 by the author of The Rebecca Rioter, Honno's most popular classic. Heiress Ethel Carton is robbed of her prized jewels. A local collier and poacher is accused. The villain goes unsuspected until he falls for the headstrong yet moral heroine Imogen Rhys.

Comedi o oes Fictoria a gyhoeddwyd gyntaf yn 1883. Cyfrol gan yr un awdur ag ysgrifennodd The Rebecca Rioter, clasur mwyaf poblogaidd Honno. Caiff perlau gwerthfawr yr arwres, Ethel Carton, eu dwyn, a chyhuddir glöwr a photsiwr lleol o droseddu. Nid yw'r dihiryn fodd bynnag yn cael ei ddal hyd nes iddo gwympo mewn cariad ag Imogen Rhys.

To steal the words of one of the characters, Amy Dillwyn’s 1883 classic is ‘quite too delicious’, ‘quite too delightful’, and it was with a sigh of regret that I read the final sentence and returned to the real world of the twenty-first century. It is a heart-warming story, beautifully written – ideal, gentle entertainment for the long evenings of winter ahead. I’ve recommended it to a friend, a great lover of the Victorians, as the perfect book for a long-haul flight. Personally, I’m not a particular fan of the period but I loved A Burglary all the same, for its warmth and wit and easy winsomeness. And some of the language is to die for – people are ‘chippy’ and ‘quamp’ or in an ‘extremely spoony condition’.

It is, of course, also a moral tale true to its time, but this in no way goes against it. The dastardly Sylvester betrays his breeding and his class by stealing the jewels of beautiful heiress, Ethel Percival Carlton. To conceal and compound his guilt, Sylvester spreads the unfounded rumour that the crime has been committed by a penniless coalminer, Richard Richards, who is known to be a poacher and therefore assumed by many to be the culprit. Although Richards is acquitted for lack of evidence, his reputation is defiled and he is left without the means of supporting his family. Meanwhile, Sylvester’s fortunes go from strength to strength. Thank goodness for our wise and compassionate young heroine, Imogen Rhys, who generally saves the day and is instrumental in saving souls and lives alike, without quite realising what she is doing.

The omniscient, third-person narrator is comfortingly old-fashioned and the characters are beautifully portrayed in all their complexity, whether real or feigned. Dillwyn’s wry commentary on a certain class of people, especially when seen through the eyes of the ‘wild and hoydenish’ Imogen, is at once unique and of its time.

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.