Jin
asked
Sherry Thomas:
Why did you choose Sherlock and reimagine him as a woman? What do you think is our culture's fascination with Sherlock in general?
Sherry Thomas
I'm so sorry, Jin. I thought Goodreads would let me know if there are questions and it did--only when a new one came in just now. I apologize for having missed your question for so long!
I first had the idea when I watched the BBC Sherlock. Because it did such a fantastic job translating Sherlock Holmes into the modern era, it got my imagination humming as to how a different twist could be put on it. And changing Holmes's gender just seemed the natural next step in the evolution of the character.
I can't speak to the entirety of the culture's fascination but I feel a large part of it is that we actually know very little of the biographical details of Sherlock Holmes. We don't know what kind of family he came from--we can infer but it was never stated--what he used to do before he became a consulting detective, how old he was, where he went to school, etc., etc. And because Watson's observation tends to miss important stuff, you can always say that certain things he noted about Sherlock Holmes isn't quite right--or that they had to change certain stories to avoid hurting the innocent. And THIS is the actual version.
Hope this answers your question!
I first had the idea when I watched the BBC Sherlock. Because it did such a fantastic job translating Sherlock Holmes into the modern era, it got my imagination humming as to how a different twist could be put on it. And changing Holmes's gender just seemed the natural next step in the evolution of the character.
I can't speak to the entirety of the culture's fascination but I feel a large part of it is that we actually know very little of the biographical details of Sherlock Holmes. We don't know what kind of family he came from--we can infer but it was never stated--what he used to do before he became a consulting detective, how old he was, where he went to school, etc., etc. And because Watson's observation tends to miss important stuff, you can always say that certain things he noted about Sherlock Holmes isn't quite right--or that they had to change certain stories to avoid hurting the innocent. And THIS is the actual version.
Hope this answers your question!
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Mar 04, 2025 06:25AM · flag