Sharp was born in the district of Salisbury in the county of Wiltshire, England, although her family originated from northern Yorkshire.

[3] She went on to write for a number of American and British magazines, including Harper's Bazaar, Ladies' Home Journal and Good Housekeeping.

In 1948 the book was adapted into the Hollywood film Julia Misbehaves, starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon.

One of her most popular novels, Cluny Brown, the story of a plumber's niece turned parlourmaid, was also made into a Hollywood film by Ernst Lubitsch in 1946, with Academy Award winner Jennifer Jones in the title role.

[8] In 2008 all of her adult books except for The Eye of Love were out of print,[9] but in 2016 Kindle editions of ten of her novels were issued.