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A Burglary: Or 'Unconscious Influence'
Clever yet comic and riveting, this Victorian comedy of manners was first published in 1883 as a three-volume novel. When heiress Ethel Carton is robbed of her prized jewels, a local collier and poacher is accused. But the real culprit is Sylvester, a gentleman and shady financier, who goes unsuspected until he falls for the headstrong yet moral heroine Imogen Rhys, Ethel’s young cousin. The unconscious influence of Ethel and Imogen inspires both love and goodness despite diversion and danger in a sensational, dramatic denouement.
350 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1883
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129 people want to read
About the author
Amy Dillwyn
14 books12 followersElizabeth Amy Dillwyn (16 May 1845 – 13 December 1935) was a novelist from South Wales who wrote in English.
She was also a businesswoman, and social benefactor being one of the first female industrialists in Britain.
She was also a businesswoman, and social benefactor being one of the first female industrialists in Britain.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 7, 2023
A fantastic book. Amy Dillwyn becomes more and more a favourite novelist of mine.
May 12, 2011
A Burglary, or Unconscious Influence isn't as absorbing and quick-paced as The Rebecca Rioter, and I took quite a long time to read the first 'volume', but the second and third parts were better, and I rather enjoyed those. The characters of Imogen, Sir Charles and Sylvester quickly became quite dear to me -- okay, Sylvester went astray, and I can't read that name without thinking of Looney Tunes, but all the same, I got to care about them rather quickly. Especially Sir Charles, as it went on: I hated that Imogen turned him down at first, and I was so glad when he won her.
It isn't nearly as Welsh as The Rebecca Rioter, but it's there a little, and it's much more about Dillwyn's own social set, something she knew very much about. She mocks them rather, it's fun.
The introduction is good, too, but I expect that now when I read Honno Classics!
It isn't nearly as Welsh as The Rebecca Rioter, but it's there a little, and it's much more about Dillwyn's own social set, something she knew very much about. She mocks them rather, it's fun.
The introduction is good, too, but I expect that now when I read Honno Classics!
May 1, 2019
Another lovely book from Honno Welsh Women's Classics. Vivid characters and a deliciously melodramatic - if a little obvious at times - plot, and beautifully written.
July 28, 2023
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/amy-dillwyn-chloe-arguelle-and-a-burglary/
This time, rather than juggle a large number of characters, Dillwyn has a basic triangle of her teenage protagonist, Imogen Rhys; the chap she probably likes more, Sir Charles Dover (a young baronet, not the only one in Dillwyn’s works); and the chap who really wants her to like him more, William Sylvester. We know, but none of the other characters do, that the impoverished Sylvester has committed a heinous crime by stealing the jewels of a family friend staying at the Rhys’s house in Wales – the burglary of the title. To make things more complicated, Imogen has a deep romantic crush on Ethel, the victim of the theft, depicted as an entirely normal part of the spectrum of emotional experience.
Imogen, who is tomboyish and headstrong, gets stuck into the defence of the local Welshman who is unjustly accused of the crime, much to the consternation of her family. She gets the innocent man acquitted, and must then deal with the competing calls on her affection. Meanwhile Sylvester undergoes agonies of conscience which are sympathetically portrayed.
Then Dillwyn’s love of melodrama strikes again, and just as Ethel, who has put two and two together, is about to reveal to Imogen that Sylvester was the thief, an accidental fire devastates the London social gathering that they are all attending. The fire seems to take up a large number of pages, and by the time it is over, Sylvester is safely dead and the others alive if crispy. It’s a little more gracefully executed than in the previous book, and of course Imogen and Sir Charles end up together.
You slightly wish that Imogen had found a way of getting together with Ethel rather than with Sir Charles, and you wonder why Ethel restrains herself from exposing Sylvester. But the story is told in a leisurely fashion, without the previous sense of hurry. It feels a bit more under control than Chloe Arguelle.
This time, rather than juggle a large number of characters, Dillwyn has a basic triangle of her teenage protagonist, Imogen Rhys; the chap she probably likes more, Sir Charles Dover (a young baronet, not the only one in Dillwyn’s works); and the chap who really wants her to like him more, William Sylvester. We know, but none of the other characters do, that the impoverished Sylvester has committed a heinous crime by stealing the jewels of a family friend staying at the Rhys’s house in Wales – the burglary of the title. To make things more complicated, Imogen has a deep romantic crush on Ethel, the victim of the theft, depicted as an entirely normal part of the spectrum of emotional experience.
Imogen, who is tomboyish and headstrong, gets stuck into the defence of the local Welshman who is unjustly accused of the crime, much to the consternation of her family. She gets the innocent man acquitted, and must then deal with the competing calls on her affection. Meanwhile Sylvester undergoes agonies of conscience which are sympathetically portrayed.
Then Dillwyn’s love of melodrama strikes again, and just as Ethel, who has put two and two together, is about to reveal to Imogen that Sylvester was the thief, an accidental fire devastates the London social gathering that they are all attending. The fire seems to take up a large number of pages, and by the time it is over, Sylvester is safely dead and the others alive if crispy. It’s a little more gracefully executed than in the previous book, and of course Imogen and Sir Charles end up together.
You slightly wish that Imogen had found a way of getting together with Ethel rather than with Sir Charles, and you wonder why Ethel restrains herself from exposing Sylvester. But the story is told in a leisurely fashion, without the previous sense of hurry. It feels a bit more under control than Chloe Arguelle.
October 31, 2020
This was really good actually; but if it was a comedy, it wasn't funny enough; a crime novel, it wasn't suspenseful enough; social critic, it wasn't critical enough; sensationalist, not sensational enough; romance, well you get the picture. Jack of All trades style novel.
Still really good, very enjoyable, nice writing; ideal for when you're not sure what genre you want to read next.
The main character Imogen is easy to like, she's funny without meaning to be. I think she's best summed up by the scene when she's pondering the attention of some men and sees a frozen lake, stops mid consideration and has a good slide.
Still really good, very enjoyable, nice writing; ideal for when you're not sure what genre you want to read next.
The main character Imogen is easy to like, she's funny without meaning to be. I think she's best summed up by the scene when she's pondering the attention of some men and sees a frozen lake, stops mid consideration and has a good slide.
November 22, 2025
really enjoyed this.
June 11, 2012
A burglary took place at LLweyn-yr-Allt, a country house not far from the small Welsh town of Cwm-Eithen. The home of Mr Rhys, the local magistrate.
Mr Rhys was hosting a house party, and on the night of the burglary he and all of his guests had were attending a ball in the town.
His two children – children on the verge of adulthood were left alone. Ralph and Imogen were as pleased with that as the adults were with the ball. They raced put into the countryside, to hunt for moths, to go fishing, to picnic …
They had a wonderful time, but when they climbed back into the house in the early hours of the morning, through the kitchen window, they quite forgot to secure it behind them.
That, it seemed was how the burglar got in. He made his way to the bedroom of Ethel Carlton, who was Mr Rhys’s niece and a very wealthy heiress. She woke up, she observed the burglary, but she was quite unable to stop the man who absconded with her jewels.
Suspicion fell upon Ronnie Richards, a local poacher. He was never convicted, but many assumed that he was guilty. And a little poaching is one thing, but burglary is another thing entirely …
Imogen knew, and liked, the Richards family, and she believed that Ronnie Richards was innocent. She was right.
A year after the burglary Mr Rhys took his daughter to London, for her first season. She had many admirers and chief among them was William Sylvester, who had been a guest at Mr Rhys’s house party.
He was smitten with Imogen, but he had to avoid her cousin Ethel. Because she had heard his voice on the night he robbed her of her jewels …
But, of course, he cannot avoid her forever. And when Ethel recognises the voice of her cousin’s beloved she finds that she has a dilemma. She should bring the villain to justice, but how can she face Imogen is she does?
In the end the decision is taken out of her hands. One dramatic event resolves things beautifully.
A wonderful story, made rich by so many things.
The characters are wonderfully well drawn. I loved Imogen, who was bright, who was sociable, who loved the countryside. I admired Ethel, who appreciated how lucky she was, who had strong values, who was good, but not too good. I very nearly liked Sylvester, who had had a difficult life, who was quite genuinely attached to Imogen, though there was no excuse for what he did. And I kept a careful eye on Ethel’s friend, Elise, who cared maybe a little too much for wealth and social standings.
The writing is lovely: clearly Victorian, but with a wonderful lightness of touch that makes it wonderfully readable. A omniescent narrator sometimes stands back and watches events unfold, and sometimes swoops down to explain a character’s background of to emphasise a particular point.
It was beautifully done, it felt completely natural, and it was so very easy to keep turning the pages.
I was thrilled to find an author who could write lovely country scenes, gripping melodrama and social comedy. And who could make them work so well together.
An author who could thread some very interesting questions about transgressions and how they are judged by society right through her story without ever seeming heavy-handed.
This is a book to enjoy, a book to make you think, and a book to linger in the mind.
(And I must mention that the Honno Books edition is beautiful, and that it comes with an informed and interesting introduction. )
Mr Rhys was hosting a house party, and on the night of the burglary he and all of his guests had were attending a ball in the town.
His two children – children on the verge of adulthood were left alone. Ralph and Imogen were as pleased with that as the adults were with the ball. They raced put into the countryside, to hunt for moths, to go fishing, to picnic …
They had a wonderful time, but when they climbed back into the house in the early hours of the morning, through the kitchen window, they quite forgot to secure it behind them.
That, it seemed was how the burglar got in. He made his way to the bedroom of Ethel Carlton, who was Mr Rhys’s niece and a very wealthy heiress. She woke up, she observed the burglary, but she was quite unable to stop the man who absconded with her jewels.
Suspicion fell upon Ronnie Richards, a local poacher. He was never convicted, but many assumed that he was guilty. And a little poaching is one thing, but burglary is another thing entirely …
Imogen knew, and liked, the Richards family, and she believed that Ronnie Richards was innocent. She was right.
A year after the burglary Mr Rhys took his daughter to London, for her first season. She had many admirers and chief among them was William Sylvester, who had been a guest at Mr Rhys’s house party.
He was smitten with Imogen, but he had to avoid her cousin Ethel. Because she had heard his voice on the night he robbed her of her jewels …
But, of course, he cannot avoid her forever. And when Ethel recognises the voice of her cousin’s beloved she finds that she has a dilemma. She should bring the villain to justice, but how can she face Imogen is she does?
In the end the decision is taken out of her hands. One dramatic event resolves things beautifully.
A wonderful story, made rich by so many things.
The characters are wonderfully well drawn. I loved Imogen, who was bright, who was sociable, who loved the countryside. I admired Ethel, who appreciated how lucky she was, who had strong values, who was good, but not too good. I very nearly liked Sylvester, who had had a difficult life, who was quite genuinely attached to Imogen, though there was no excuse for what he did. And I kept a careful eye on Ethel’s friend, Elise, who cared maybe a little too much for wealth and social standings.
The writing is lovely: clearly Victorian, but with a wonderful lightness of touch that makes it wonderfully readable. A omniescent narrator sometimes stands back and watches events unfold, and sometimes swoops down to explain a character’s background of to emphasise a particular point.
It was beautifully done, it felt completely natural, and it was so very easy to keep turning the pages.
I was thrilled to find an author who could write lovely country scenes, gripping melodrama and social comedy. And who could make them work so well together.
An author who could thread some very interesting questions about transgressions and how they are judged by society right through her story without ever seeming heavy-handed.
This is a book to enjoy, a book to make you think, and a book to linger in the mind.
(And I must mention that the Honno Books edition is beautiful, and that it comes with an informed and interesting introduction. )
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews