Dear Sir

When I was discussing Sharpe not so long ago with a mutual friend, (Stuart Wilkie) I asked him did he believe (as I do) Sharpe would even have given in to lust, had he have been with Lucille when he met Helené Laroux?  His answer was “Only Bernard would know, but Sharpe is very much a ‘love the one you’re with’ type of person,  particularly when he’s far away from the one he loves”.

So as his creator, would he have definitely stayed faithful in that scenario?

I know you say you like to leave TV shows to the experts, but wasn’t you just a little shocked the first time you watched Sharpe’s Gold?

I was and I hadn’t even read the novel at that point. It just felt so out of step with the rest of the series.

I have a lot to thank the TV series for though as it was that, which led to me buying now all the novels from Sharpe’s Rifles onwards. This leads me to a strange question……is it odd that I can’t bring myself to read any of the Sharpes before Sharpe’s Rifles?  I think myself odd but my reason is I can’t picture Sharpe without Harper and I think the TV series probably did that sorry.

Lee