Susan is introduced in "Soul Music" as a sixteen-year-old pupil at the Quirm College for Young Ladies, shortly after the deaths of her parents. Initially blaming Death for not saving them, she has come to accept that he is able only to grant them an eternal moment in his domain, which they have refused. After graduating — and despite being Duchess of Sto Helit — she begins a teaching career, first as a governess, in "Hogfather", and then as a schoolteacher, in "Thief of Time". She insists on being addressed as "Miss Susan".