List of FiguresAcknowledgementsA note on spelling and transliterationIntroduction Prologue: A conspectus of Ottoman history 1. Ottoman women, Ottoman history: Coping with a changing world Part I (1500s to about 1700)2. The legal framework of family life 3. Dependent on work, investments and charity 4. Exceptionally talented, exceptionally active: women of distinction Part II (about 1700-1870s)5. Ottoman diversity: Female agency and survival in Ottoman Syria and Egypt 6. Ottoman diversity: Coping with relatives, the state and dependent capitalism Part III (1870-1918)7. Female teachers, journalists and actors: education as a source of survival skills8. Before 1912: Making a living through family relations, work and charity
and occasionally turning to crime9. In profound distress:Struggling to survive the disintegration of the empire (1912-18) Conclusion Suggestions for further reading: A bibliographical essay NotesTimelineGlossary.