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The Eights
The Eights: The captivating debut historical novel following the first women to study at Oxford University | Joanna Miller
3 posts | 2 read | 5 to read
‘Entertaining and moving...I came to love these four women as though they were my sisters’ TRACY CHEVALIER ‘I ADORED it. What a fantastic read. My book of the year’ JILL MANSELL - They knew they were changing history. They didn’t know they would change each other. Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world’s most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and emancipation, four young women move into neighbouring rooms on Corridor Eight. They have come here from all walks of life, and they are thrown into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship. Dora 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, politically-minded daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way – and her own friends – for the first time. Socialite Otto fills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they won’t be enough to distract her from her memories of the war years. And quiet, clever, Marianne, the daughter of a village vicar, arrives bearing a secret she must hide from everyone – even The Eights – if she is to succeed. But Oxford’s dreaming spires cast a dark shadow: in 1920, misogyny is still rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War are still very real indeed. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time, their friendship will become more important than ever. The Eights is a captivating debut novel about sisterhood, self-determination, courage, and what it means to come of age in a world that is forever changed. - 'Beautifully captures the power of friendship ... A pleasure to read' PIP WILLIAMS, author of A Dictionary of Lost Words 'I so enjoyed The Eights' CLARE CHAMBERS, author of Small Pleasures
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marleed
Pickpick

In January, I was disappointed reading My Oxford Year when the story didn‘t match the title. Not so here. This book set in the 1920s features four women earning the opportunity to matriculate from Oxford. Each woman has a unique and compelling story engrossed in 1920s culture. It didn‘t feel like a 2025 woman finding herself in 1920 (my pet peeve with HF). It felt like what women able to consider higher education in the 1920s would experience.

quietjenn I'm really looking forward to this one! 7d
marleed @quietjenn I really liked this and really props for creating 4 women that represented the culture and mores of the 1920s as well as the desire for education - and the degree that honored that work. 6d
54 likes2 comments
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marleed
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Pickpick

In January, I was disappointed reading My Oxford Year when the story didn‘t match the title. Not so here. This book set in the 1920s features four women earning the opportunity to matriculate from Oxford. Each woman has a unique and compelling story engrossed in 1920s culture. It didn‘t feel like a 2025 woman finding herself in 1920 (my pet peeve with HF). It felt like what women able to consider higher education in the 1920s would experience.

The_Book_Ninja So good you reviewed it twice! 6d
marleed @The_Book_Ninja 🤣🤣 How in the world did I not even notice until your post 😂 perhaps it‘s telling me my multitasking sucks after 4 weekdays with one grandson then two consecutive overnights with my 4-yr old grand twins 🤯 (edited) 5d
The_Book_Ninja @marleed that‘s bound to frazzle anyone‘s brain😂 5d
62 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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JazzFeathers
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Pickpick

It was a great read... Though l think it could have been even better.
It felt disjointed most of the time and up to halfway through l felt quite lost. What kept me reading was the easy style, the great historical setting, the most ntetesting pieces of history and the four main characters.

It's about the first women who could get a degree in Oxford, who entered university and n 1920. Plus, remembrance of the Great War and suffrage movements.