 Wollstonecraft had envisioned living in a female utopia with Blood ; they made plans to rent rooms together and support each other emotionally and financially , but this dream collapsed under economic realities . In order to make a living , Wollstonecraft , her sisters , and Blood set up a school together in Newington Green , a Dissenting community . Blood soon became engaged and after their marriage her husband , Hugh <unk> , took her to Lisbon , Portugal , to improve her health , which had always been precarious . Despite the change of surroundings Blood 's health further deteriorated when she became pregnant , and in 1785 Wollstonecraft left the school and followed Blood to nurse her , but to no avail . Moreover , her abandonment of the school led to its failure . Blood 's death devastated Wollstonecraft and was part of the inspiration for her first novel , Mary : A Fiction ( 1788 ) . 
