A long time ago (you certainly won’t remember with all the people who contact you) I told you i refused to read (although I owned the books) Sharpe, before he meets Harper.

Your response was

“That’s okay, you don’t know what you’re missing, but that’s okay.”

I’ve since taken those 5 books off the shelf and read them and they’re fantastic “says so in the scriptures.” :-)

It brings up some questions (so forgive me, anyone that may not have read yet) regarding those books plus a book i’m currently re-reading for what must be the 7th-8th time.

Would Grace or Astrid have featured in more than just one novel each had the books been written in sequence?  I appreciate that may be an odd question, but the thought does occur to me that perhaps they could only feature in one novel for continuity in later books? As he falls for a Louisa in Sharpe’s Rifles which I assume (without checking was written before Sharpe’s Trafalgar or Sharpe’s Prey.

Also I am the Sharpe i’m currently on is Sharpe’s Fury.  I think reading the earlier based novels has made a “Light Bulb” go off, because I think i’ve noticed something I never really noticed the significance of before.  I’d just like to know if it was deliberate?

Henry Wellesley, tells the story (for Brigadier Moon’s benefit) of his brother being saved by Sharpe.  He tells it as

“Arthur told me, he knew he was going to die……….then from nowhere a British Sergeant appears……He says the sergeant put down 5 men.”

Sorry without the book in front of me i cannot quote it fully and perhaps not even correctly.  But as I know how this books goes,I have to ask……… Did you deliberately make Sharpe’s rescue of Brigadier Moon and the new Lady Moon similar to how Henry Wellesley describes Sharpe’s rescue of Wellington?  It certainly appears that way now i’ve noticed that specific description more clearly than i previously did in the past.

One last thing.  Please give me/us one more Sharpe? He’s provided me with so much pleasure over the years, I can only think of one way of showing my appreciation.  And that is to buy 4 more copies of the same novel in various formats to keep me company.

Thank you sir for your time.

Lee