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The Eights
The Eights: The captivating debut historical novel following the first women to study at Oxford University | Joanna Miller
4 posts | 2 read | 7 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 didnt know they would change each other. Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the worlds 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 fianc 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 wont 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 Oxfords 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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Aims42
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Today my friend and I went to 2 indie bookstores since she had a family thing on Indie Bookstore Day in April and was bummed to miss all the excitement. Well, today was a blast!! These are my two newest additions to my TBR mountain 😆 Can‘t wait to read them! #BookBuddies

BookNAround I got The Eights on indie bookstore day myself. Haven‘t opened it yet but it looks great. (edited) 3w
Aims42 @BookNAround Yay!! Happy you snagged a copy too 🙌 I‘m glad I bought it at the first store we went to, the second store didn‘t have it 😮‍💨 3w
25 likes2 comments
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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! 1mo
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. 1mo
54 likes1 stack add2 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! 1mo
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) 1mo
The_Book_Ninja @marleed that‘s bound to frazzle anyone‘s brain😂 1mo
64 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.