the Lorimer sisters, who is described as "fair, slight, upright as a dart." She describes herself as a "middling sort of person," and is 20 years old at the novel's opening. Phyllis Lorimer: the youngest and most beautiful of the Lorimers. Phyllis is often sickly, but is mischievous and spoiled by everyone around her. She is 17 years old when the novel opens. Fanny Lorimer: the oldest and most old-fashioned of the sisters. Fanny is a half-sister to the other Lorimers, and is 30 years old at the novel's beginning. She is concerned with domesticity and femininity, and is described as "a superannuated baby" and "an anachronism" with "just the sort of qualities men seem to think desirable in a wife and mother." Frank Jermyn: an artist who makes newspaper engravings for a living. He lives across from the Lorimers' studio and becomes a good friend of the sisters before eventually marrying Lucy. Sidney Darrell: a prominent London artist who invites the Lorimers to many social events. He asks Phyllis to pose for him as a model, and later they plan to leave for Italy together. Lord Watergate: a physiologist with connections in artistic circles, and a friend of Mr. Darrell. He first contacts the Lorimers to make post-mortem photographs of his deceased wife. Later he marries Gertrude. Historical background Photography By the 1880s, photography was a well-established as a medium used for many purposes, including portraiture, journalism and documentation. The work of artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron and Clementina Hawarden active in the mid-century helped advance the medium to the status of fine art. In the 1880s, there were nearly 300 photography studios in London. Commercial photography was widespread in its applications, and the many types of photographs which the Lorimers are hired to take, including photographic studies for artists, lecture slides, postmortem photography, and portraiture, were all common. Imperial England Britain's colonial empire serves as an essential backdrop for The Romance of a Shop; key plot developments center on Britain's imperial connection to faraway colonies. When Aunt Caroline initially tries to convince the girls to marry she considers sending them to India to find husbands, which "works wonders in that regard." Fanny initially rejects her suitor Mr. Marsh because he is poor, and leaving for Australia provides the opportunity for him to accumulate wealth over time and return to Britain with the resources to marry. British fighting