Suitabook

I Shall Wear Midnight

Terry Pratchett

Reading: If domestic violence or grief is particularly sensitive, preview the opening and check in after it. Otherwise, use the shifts between comic fantasy and darker material as opportunities to discuss fear, responsibility and changing public attitudes.
Themes: Care as responsibility: Tiffany’s witch’s work includes tending wounds, helping during childbirth, assisting the dying and responding to everyday needs. Practical care is presented as meaningful work, although the wider social response to witches combines gratitude with distrust.
Fear and prejudice: A climate of suspicion develops around witches, with Tiffany blamed for problems and people becoming more violent and less trusting. The book takes a critical view of this.
Growing through loss: Tiffany faces increasing responsibility alongside the death of the older baron, difficult relationships and questions about remembering painful experiences. The story treats emotional growth, memory and forgiveness as important parts of becoming responsible, without presenting grief as something easily removed.
Worth knowing: Consider discussing the opening domestic-violence episode beforehand, and note that the book includes non-explicit sexual innuendo. The other content considerations are detailed below.