I loved all of the characters in The Eights, I loved the writing and the language. I felt like I was learning at the same time as the Eights were, all about Oxford University and the city itself.
I really enjoyed following along with the lives of Otto, Beatrice, Dora and Marianne and I didn’t want the book to end, it could have continued on for another two hundred pages and I would have been happy!

intelligent page-turner filled with very well-written and real characters and a very strong sense of place and time. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

2025 is off to a very promising start in the historical fiction department. Joanna Miller's The Eights compels on so many levels and is a offers a believable historical setting peopled with characters you care about. It's very hard to put down.

1920 was the first year that women were admitted to Oxford University. Britain is shattered by the carnage of World War I and no one is immune from the horror. The four women who have rooms on corridor eight have made it through, and are excited at the opportunity to study on the same level as men. Of course, they face pages of social strictures that men do not, and nasty misogyny, and the contempt of many fellow students. but for each one of these women Oxford represents opportunities they cannot wait to grasp.

The academic rigor was in no way modified for women, who rarely had access to the kind of academic prep that men of their time did. The fact that so many women passed the entrance exams was a sign of their willingness to put in extra months of study in order to have this chance.

The daughter of a famous sufragette, six-foot-tall Beatrice has been mocked all her life for her size and plainness. Her greatest wish is to have friends but she is very shy about how to go about it. Dora lost her brother and fiance in the war and has decided that she will take their place at Oxford. Marianne is the quiet daughter of a vicar who has to go home every Sunday to help her father, losing precious study time. Lively flapper Ottoline is gifted in higher math, but hopes that Oxford will offer a bright social life that will help her overcome the nightmares from her wartime experiences. You will love all of them. Joanna Miller neatly weaves their stories around each other, leading a satisfying end.

The Eights is the best kind of historical fiction, with a finely created sense of place and time, peopled with characters who resonate. It's a pleasure to read and hard to put down.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy of The Eights in exchange for an honest review.

Rounded up from 3.5

What I liked: Joanna Miller does a wonderful job evoking the time and place, making this not just a story of the first women working to earn degrees from Oxford but also a depiction of the lingering tragic aftermath of World War I. The story zipped along, and for the most part I enjoyed spending time with the characters.

What I didn't like: Some of the plot developments and "secrets" were predictable. One of the protagonists exemplifies the trope of the seemingly frivolous woman who is quite the math/science genius. (Do such people exist outside of novels?) A romance between two characters comes across as prescribed rather than organic: Why is he attracted to her? And one or two "twists" are probably meant to be typical of an unreliable narrator but are actually authorial manipulation or trickery—quite different, and a bit like cheating.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Putnam Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced title of this book.
Taking place in the 1920's at Oxford University, this story showcases the lives and struggles of four women. Each woman is vastly different from the other, each with a story of their own.

Sadly, the issues faced in this book are still pertinent to present time. Womens equality, male superiority, and profound bias within the academia setting.

This book was very slow paced and I lost interest several times. I'm a pretty fast reader, but this one was difficult to get into. I enjoyed the premise of the story, I just wish it had faster pacing. There were a lot of characters as well that it was difficult to keep them all straight.
The bones were there, but I think maybe I'm not the target audience for this one.

Wow, I loved this! This is the first time when I've been in bed with a cold and didn't binge a TV show... I just wanted to read! World War I is a growing interest of mine (thanks to In Memoriam, the Regeneration trilogy and A Little Princess as a kid). There are many stories about what WWII was like for women (before , during, and after) but this was my first encounter with this perspective for WWI. It was fascinating (and infuriating) to read about the first (recognized) matriculating class of women. And what women they were! I loved these four, and they will stay with me for a long while.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I've been reading this on and off for more than a month. The pace is so slow, it never holds my interest. There are so many characters, I find it difficult to keep them straight. Only made it to about 30% before I gave up.

It's 1920 two years after WW! and four women from four different backgrounds are accepted to matriculate at Oxford University. Marianne, Dora, Beatrice and Ottoline/Otto. They will be living on corridor 8 (hence "the eights") and will become friends. Forming a sisterhood, they all have their secrets...they all have to abide by the strict rules of Oxford; they all have to put up with the bias and open dislike of the male students and the professors. It was a time when social convention was changing, when women suffrage and women's equality was an everyday fight . The book was filled with what it was like to be at Oxford in a world where men were "everything" and women were meant to become housewives and mothers. How could a women ever be as smart as any man or have what it takes to go to a university such as Oxford? Long before the era of Betty Friedan and the "burning of the bras" these women were on the frontline! Yes, we're still fighting as we are on the shoulders of the women before us. Quite a book and highly recommended. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this read! It is rich with historical detail without the info dumping. There were many insightful parts that I highlighted throughout, and the descriptions were rich yet elegant.

I do wish Dora’s character had been further fleshed out, as I felt like, until we got her backstory much later in the book, she was sort of just *there* compared to the other 3 main characters. The pacing was on the slow side which, depending on your preference, may be a good thing. For me, it made for a slow read and sometimes I couldn’t keep track of all of the names and details because of that.

I really enjoyed reading about this period of history from the perspective of some of the first women’s students at Oxford. It’s not a depiction of the 1920’s I’ve generally encountered, and the rich historical detail in this novel truly brought it to life.

This book has potential for a sequel. Given my experience reading this book, I would read it!

I found this book on a Goodreads debut list. I’m drawn to stories about female friendship and feminism, so this one stood out to me—and I ended up liking it a lot. The historical setting was a nice touch, and I appreciated how it gave a sense of what being a woman at a university back then was really like, especially with all the strict rules. The author shares her research and inspiration at the end, which added a nice layer to the story. The writing style, with its shifts between the past and present, wasn’t always my favorite, though, as it felt a bit disjointed at times. Still, I enjoyed the book overall and would recommend it to fans of historical fiction. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

On October 7, 1920, British history was made. This was the day that women could enter a four year program of study and graduate with a university degree from Oxford. Before this, women could take classes but never earn a degree. It was a radical move for one of the two English college towns, Cambridge wouldn't allow women to matriculate until 1948. But it wasn't granted without controversy. Many male professors thought that women would just take up classroom space, get married and have children. Several students enrolled or transferred to Cambridge, in order to study without female distraction. Women students had to follow arcane rules of etiquette, dress, and presentation, and they had to be no less than perfect to win their right to learn.

As the women of St. Hughes College for Women are gathered in the courtyard for the Matriculation Ceremony, their chaperone tells them to divide themselves in groups of four, dependent on their dorm corridors. The four girls of corridor eight introduce themselves, and all are drawn to each other, as they become good but unlikely friends. Beatrice is almost six feet tall and very politically aware as her mother is a famous suffragette. However, she has never met her mother's expectations of a poised outgoing daughter, and is consequently shy and unsure of herself. Marianne is a dedicated student of English literature, who fights with herself every day to stay in school. Dora is the beauty of the group who is only there because her brother died in the Great War. He was the one who would have attended, even though she was always the one who took education seriously. Ottoline, or Otto, came from an aristocratic family, who's members were known for their place in society. Unlike her fashionable sisters, Otto is fascinated by mathematics and is one of the few females to study numbers. She is also the one who bobs her hair and flouts all of the school rules-much to her professors dismay.

As we follow "the Eights," we watch these women battle constantly for their right to an Oxford education. With the chips stacked against them and having to deal with a large contingent of male animosity, studying and exams have to take a backseat to mere survival. As their secrets unravel, they find that they can help each other muddle through and stay the course., even when this seems impossible. Miller delivers a wonderful story of female bonding wrapped up in a fascinating historical novel. We have much to learn from this one.

Four women are among the few first female class admitted to Oxford University just after WWl . The country is healing from the great war and women are fighting to regain the independence they had briefly during the war while also finding their role in this new world. These women hail from a variety of homes and backgrounds yet all are searching for independence. They will get pushback from the professors and the male students which just cements their support and friendship of one another. A touching study of female friendship, courage and the changing roles of women after WWI.
This will appeal to historical fiction readers of MISS MORGAN'S BOOK BRIGADE, THE ALICE NETWORK and books by Jennifer Chiaverini. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Interesting tale of the first women admitted to Oxford University, set between the World Wars in 1920. Following a group of four friends, know as the Eights as that is the corridor on which they live, each comes from a very different background and has different goals for her respective education, but they form a bond nonetheless. As they learn each other's histories and dreams, their bonds deepen and those goals change. Well told, somewhat slow paced.

This is my first encounter with Joanna Miller, but I do not think it will be my last. This is a work of historical fiction about the first group of women to be allowed to graduate with degrees from Oxford. I will not go into the history of Oxford and its female undergraduates here, you can read the novel for that. I learned a lot about the struggle for women to be taken seriously as scholars at Oxford and Cambridge. I also learned a bit about the Suffragettes and the phenomenon of "Surplus Women" in the UK between the wars. The toll that WWI took on an entire generation in Europe is explored sensitively as well. I do not want to make this novel sound like a history lesson, it is entertaining and the young women spotlighted are likable characters. I was merely surprised that I learned so much from the novel. The novel is well-written, and I was fully invested in the fate of the main characters by the end. The only criticism I have is that the four spotlighted undergraduates seemed at first to be "types"- you know- the posh one/debutante; the vicar's daughter; the plain but brainy one; the pretty one...However, the characters were fully fleshed out by the middle of the book-distinguishable and unique. In summary, I quite enjoyed this one and I gained new insights into a time period I thought I was already familiar with.
Recommend.

I really enjoyed this book. It focuses on four women who are in the first class to matriculate for a degree at Oxford in 1920. The book describes many of the humiliations that these women and those who went before them (being allowed to attend classes at Oxford, but not to receive a degree) underwent. It's real theme, however, is arguably the way in which women were impacted as much as men by WW1. Others have commented that the book starts out slowly and can seem a little plotless, but the author is a smooth writer, and I appreciated the way in which she built up her portrait of each character and unfolded their story. I recommend.

In "The Eights", Joanna Miller takes us back to a post-WWI Britain where Oxford University has just accepted its first class of women. Amongst the small group are a few women whose lives will be changed forever by this event: Beatrice, daughter of famed suffragette who's grown up in her mother's and sisters' shadows for her entire life; Theodora, a young woman still reeling from the loss of her brother and fiance in the war, who feels she's undeserving of this opportunity; Marianne, a quiet daughter of a pastor in the countryside who needs to make recurring visits home, despite the impact on her studies; and Otto, the larger-than-life socialite from a wealthy family whose confidence and boldness appears to be never-ending.

These four women are assigned rooms in to Corridor Eight, a happenstance that naturally brings them closer together and the reason they become known as The Eights. As their first year progresses, we come to learn more about each of these women and their backstories leading up to Oxford - for Otto, her brief time as a nurse at the VAD continues to haunt her in the present. Beatrice is forced to acknowledge the weight of her mother's legacy and her words, but must forge her own identity and path. Dora is forced to come to terms with the truth of her past, and struggles to make peace with the reality of her present. And for Marianne, her attempt to lead a dual life slowly fails as time goes on, and she must come to terms with sharing the truth of her past with her new friends and loved ones.

It took a little time for me to get used to the prose of this novel; Miller writes predominantly in second-person, which isn't a frequently used perspective, but gives each character to voice their inner thoughts and emotions in alternating chapters. I also thoroughly appreciated the historical context of "The Eights" and how well-researched it was; Miller highlights some of the inane rules and procedures put in place for these women at the time (including curfews, having supervised visits when interacting with men, etc.) as well as the lingering impact of war on everyone's lives. Each of the protagonists in this novel are well-developed, although I felt Dora and Marianne had the most focus on them, given their complex backstories.

Very much a recommended read when "The Eights" is published in April 2025!

Joanna Miller’s debut novel follows four women attending the University of Oxford in 1920. They are not the first female university students in the United Kingdom, or even the first who can hope to attain a degree, but they are the first class of women who can, if they fulfill all the requirements, attain a university degree from Oxford.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, not everyone on the campus regards their presence as a plus. Views of women as lightheaded, emotionally unstable creatures incapable of mastering sophisticated thought or living without male guidance have begun to fade since the Great War of 1914–1918, but they continue to influence popular thinking. Unlike the men, women students live under strict restrictions against partying or even entertaining male visitors who are not blood relatives. Defy the rules, and they risk being “sent down” (suspended, in effect) or even dismissed from the program altogether.

So what brings the four heroines to Oxford? Each has her own story, much of which becomes obvious only later in the book. Beatrice Sparks, the daughter of a suffragette, considers herself unattractive and unlikely to marry; college offers her a path to a career and perhaps a chance to gain her mother’s respect. Ottoline Wallace-Kerr, known as Otto, is fleeing a family bent on marrying off to the first man who asks, as well as some demons from her past. Theodora (Dora) Greenwood lost her brother, then her fiancé, within two weeks of fighting in France, and she doesn’t quite know how to go on. Marianne Grey, unlike the others, has no wealthy family to support her; she must make her own way in the world. Together, they are known as the Eights, because they live on Corridor Eight.

Although different in character, background, and interests, the four women bond, helping one another cope with the challenges that face them, individually and collectively. These include Oxford, of course, but also the lingering effects of the Great War, their personal situations, and the challenges that face most twenty-somethings as they struggle to define their place in the world. As they do, they draw us in and make us root for them to succeed—and what else would we want from a novel?

I hope to chat with the author on the New Books Network (link below) in May 2025.

The Eights follows four women who are part of the first class who will be awarded degrees from Oxford during their first year, 1920. The shadow of World War One still hangs heavily over England and some students experienced the war first-hand while others were too young. Some men welcome the women while others are convinced they will ruin the university, bringing down academic standards and distracting the men from their studies. The women are challenged, tested, and often made to feel unwelcome, and it's hard to believe this all took place only 100 years ago.

The historical context was fascinating but the four main characters were such cliches that I found it hard to move past this. Marianne is a poor vicar's daughter attending Oxford on a scholarship, Ottoline is a bored, rich bright young thing scarred by her experiences during the war, Beatrice is the daughter of a famous suffragette, and Dora is the beautiful but provincial daughter of a rich factory owner. We have met all these characters many times before and I found it unlikely that four women from such disparate backgrounds would bind together so tightly just because there rooms were in the same corridor.

I enjoyed learning about the history of the era but I struggled to find the characters believable or unique.

I am a bit conflicted on how to rate this one, partly because I breezed through it and can read endless books on women's suffrage, and in part because it seemed a bit far fetched. I loved the focus on how war permanently changed the lives of the people in the novel, but for such a tumultuous time for women's education, there was an awful lot still going smooth for the main characters. That said, the meticulous research done by the author and her passion for historical detail insertion shows with sharp clarity, and the difficulty in being the first set of women to be granted access to what was only a man's space previously was well emphasized.
If you feel strongly about women's suffrage, pick this up. You'll go through the pages in no time.

The Eights tells the story of a group of four women who are part of the inaugural female class at Oxford and their varying backgrounds and experiences. The book takes place mostly in 1920, and it's full of history from the college to the traditions and social norms to the aftermath of the war. Each woman, Otto, Beatrice, Dora, and Marianne, brought something different to the table, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with all of them.

This book was a bit of a slow start, and it took me a long time to even be able to tell the girls apart. But once I was in the story, I was in the story. I will say that I found Marianne's "secret" to be easily predicted and far too drawn out, and it did not help her character development at all. I wish her relationship with her dad and her family would have been explored a little more, since we got so much exploration of Otto and her mother and sister, and Beatrice and her parents. I also wish we had gotten more exploration of Dora and her life before coming to Oxford, since we only got the one little insight.

This was a well-written and well-researched book, but I felt a little disconnected from it. It felt like I was reading it from a distance rather than right there with the characters, which is partly why it took me so long to care about the characters. I also didn't care much for any of the men, but I'm glad that a few of the characters found what they were looking for in terms of romance.

Overall, I really liked this book, even though I had a few nitpick-y complaints. Definitely recommend, and will definitely be reading more by Joanna Miller!