How FanFic Expands the Sherlock Holmes Family
by Ryan Britt
LB’S NOTE: Remember when people used to mock fan fiction for being, oh, you know, fan fiction? Seems like just the other day, right? Because it was. But those days are over, gang. Here’s why.
New Netflix film Enola Holmes gives Sherlock Holmes a family beyond his estranged brother Mycroft. The Holmes family tree though, doesn’t come from Conan Doyle. Instead, it’s the result of a long history of fan fiction
Author Nancy Springer invented Sherlock’s secret sister. You might remember back in 2017 when Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes met his secret — and criminally insane — sister Eurus Holmes (Sian Brooke) in the 4th season of the BBC’s Sherlock, but Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) came first. Springer’s Enola made her splash in the 2006 middle-grade book The Case of the Missing Marquess (upon which the new movie Enola Holmes is based) which makes her the reigning champ of secret Holmes siblings, at least in the 21st century. Are there other secret Holmes siblings? What about the Holmes parents? Did Sherlock or Mycroft have any children of their own?
