"What Marianne really wants to say is that misogyny is like the mice under the floorboards at the rectory, scuttling about unseen, but never far away...The 'Isis' and student publications like it lambast Oxford's women for being prudish old maids one week and frivolous husband-hunters the next. Women are mocked for being too dowdy or too attractive, too feeble-minded or too diligent. They are criticized for breaking rules, for slavishly adhering to rules, for using the university's resources lavishly, for operating on a shoestring...The truth of the matter is that with some men they can never win." The Eights follows four women (Dora, Beatrice, Otto and Marianne) who live together on the eighth corridor and some of those first admitted to Oxford University in 1920. It's a captivating and accomplished debut novel and it certainly feels authentic and must have required substantial research, which I would have loved as someone who read history at University. I loved the narratives from the four different women, including snapshots into specific moments in their pasts, providing context for their feelings and behaviour. The tragedies they and their male peers who fought in World War I, experienced, the pervasive misogyny and the sheer joy of female friendship made this a poignant and nuanced read. I bought my copy at The Book Taster North East Summer Social last month, where I was lucky enough to meet the author and for her to sign my copy.

A superb novel! In 1920's Oxford, history takes place when the University admits women for the very first time. Four young women are placed in neighbouring rooms in corridor eight and are thereby referred to as 'The Eights'. Not only is it a first for the university, it's a definite first for these young women who come from all walks of life; will they settle to academia and, more importantly, will academia accept them? What a fantastic read. I loved everything about it. Despite being set over a century ago, I found it to be so relevant to life today. How long and hard women worked to get suffrage and yet, in 2025, we seem to be getting it all taken from us far more easily. Quite apart from that side of things, this was an enthralling novel which kept me glued to it from the beginning to the very end. Highly recommended and easily meriting all five sparkling stars!

What a great debut novel from Joanna Miller, having spent time studying at Oxford University she certainly picked topic she could write about from experience. Although of course her protagonists are from a different era. The town and university certainly comes to life with her wonderful descriptions. It is the early nineteen twenties and Theodora, Marianne, Beatrice and Ottoline are four of the first intake of women allowed to study for a full degree at Oxford University. These four young women find themselves all with rooms on Corridor Eight of St Hughs College and they soon become friends with the nickname 'The Eights.' As the novel progresses the reader learns about the backgrounds and the secrets they each have. With the many social expectations of the time the women find strength in one another, as they struggle with not only academia but also heartbreak. Despite so much against them they refuse to be beaten. Having throughly enjoyed 'The Eights' I am hoping to be able to read more in the future from this author. This debut was such an emotive and compelling read, which I highly recommend.

The Eights is one of the books I have most been looking forward to reading in 2025 because of its fascinating subject matter. Set in 1920, the story follows four women who are amongst the first women students at Oxford University. Dora, Marianne, Otto and Beatrice all have their crosses to bear. It's challenging enough being a woman in what is very firmly a man's world, but the spectre of World War I, and all they experienced and lost during the conflict, is still lingering over them. It is quite clear that Joanna Miller has done extensive research about the lives these women would have led, not only as students but as potential surplus women. The book is rich with detail of day to day life at Oxford, being chaperoned and the endless rules that women were forced to live by. I felt as though I was there alongside them, witnessing their highs and lows. There is a back story too for each of the four main characters. Dora's and Marianne's in particular emphasised the immediacy of war during which rash decisions were made and the consequences felt later. This is a beautifully written and observed debut novel about female friendship, solidarity and emancipation that made me root for the characters who emerged from the horror of the war years to forge new horizons for womankind. It's inspiring, engrossing and incredibly moving.

It’s hard to believe such a captivating and brilliantly written story is Joanna Miller’s first novel. Set in Oxford in 1920, the Eights is a fictionalised tale of the first women to be admitted to Oxford University. It tells the stories of four very different women who live on the same corridor – corridor No 8. Miller has created an excellent cast of believable and likeable characters. There’s Dora who was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Beatrice, daughter of a famous suffragette, seeing Oxford as a chance to make her own way for the first time. Socialite Otto who fills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they won’t be enough to distract her from her memories of the war years. And Marianne, the daughter of a village vicar, who arrives bearing a secret she must hide from everyone. Alongside these likeable and relatable fictional characters, Miller also cleverly weaves in cameo roles of some real women, such as Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby. The period detail and historical accuracy throughout is impressive, but what really makes this book stand out is the wonderful way Miller depicts female friendship and resilience. I loved this book, I was hooked from the beginning, and began missing her cast of characters as soon as I finished the book. I look forward to whatever Joanna Miller writes next. With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC