Sophie’s finances were strained by her husband’s “death,” and his funeral, which was held in a very private ceremony where his ashes were scattered to the wind, was of little interest to the authorities.
Compelled to support herself and her four-year-old daughter, Eliza, Sophie put aside her writing and translation work for the time being and decided to open a shop. Although women were generally disallowed to run their own independent businesses in competition with men, there was one industry in which they had tremendous influence: women’s fashion.
Seamstresses and milliners who worked in the silk, hat-making and button-making industries were desperate to escape their jobs as low-paid workers for the benefit of others. With Sophie as their mentor, they set up clandestine workshops using
