The Eights

 

The Eights by Joanna Miller

Fiction

2025

Finished on January 16, 2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its one-thousand-year history, Oxford University officially admits female students. Burning with dreams of equality, four young women move into neighboring rooms in Corridor 8. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto—collectively known as The Eights—come from all walks of life, each driven by their own motives, each holding tight to their secrets, and are thrown into an unlikely, unshakable 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. Politically-minded Beatrice, daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way—and some friends her own age. Otto was a nurse during the war but is excited to return to her socialite lifestyle in Oxford, where she hopes to find distraction from the memories that haunt her. And finally Marianne, the quiet, clever daughter of a village pastor, who has a shocking secret she must hide from everyone, even her new friends, if she is to succeed.

Among the historic spires, and in the long shadow of the Great War, the four women must navigate and support one another in a turbulent world in which misogyny is rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War don’t always remain dead.

As with other books centered around a group of new friends, The Eights took me a little while to become familiar with each of the four characters. I made a cheat sheet to help remind me of each of the women's backgrounds and traits, but it wasn't too long before I could read without glancing at that note. I enjoyed watching the bond between the four women grow as they became more comfortable as students at Oxford. Secrets are slowly revealed, giving way to trust and deep friendships.

... but these women! It is no surprise that the noun friend is derived from an ancient root word meaning to love, that it is etymologically bound to the word free. These marvelous women gave her the confidence that what she is doing is right.

On Art:

"I suppose some people enjoy escaping into art and literature. I do it all the time. Too much, perhaps," she adds, smiling. "It reminds me there's still innocence and beauty and creativity in this world."

On Inequality:

As she enters her room, it occurs to her that nobody is rusticating Charles Baker. Nobody is admonishing him. He is free to go about his business, and it is her reaction that is deemed unacceptable. Why is it that women must suppress the feelings that are inconvenient or threatening to men? Their natural anger, grief, and rage. Why in literature do they kill themselves or get locked in asylums, attics, prisons, hotel rooms? Why cannot a woman act out what is in her heart without punishment? Constraining, pulling, tightening, tying, controlling, pinning, belting. Is this really the lot of a woman?

I do wish I had known that a glossary was included at the back of the book, as there were several terms with which I was unfamiliar (e.g., Cuppers, Bod, Pass Mods, etc.). Overall, a very enjoyable read with likeable characters and an immersive setting. The Eights will appeal to fans of female-centric historical works such as The Rose Code (Kate Quinn), The Nightingale (Kristin Hannah), and Lilac Girls (Martha Hall Kelly). 

Highly recommend!