Joanna Miller

An entertaining and moving imagining of four smart women dealing with the engrained misogyny of the time. I came to love and admire the four as if they were my sisters

My book of the year. The writing is wonderful, the subject fascinating and the storylines utterly absorbing. I’m so sad I’ve finished it. I loved everything about this book. I ADORED it

I so enjoyed The Eights and became completely involved in the lives of the four pioneering heroines whose friendship is the beating heart of the book

CLARE CHAMBERS, author of Small Pleasures

I loved this story of the first women admitted to Oxford University - and its gorgeously written characters. Rooted strongly in time and place, this novel transports you

JENNIE GODFREY, author of The List of Suspicious Things

A story about women taking their place in a man’s world, The Eights beautifully captures the power of friendship and love in the wake of extraordinary loss. It was a pleasure to read

PIP WILLIAMS, author of The Dictionary of Lost Words

A heartfelt, thoughtful and engaging book about the first women students to go to Oxford University - their friendships, their secrets, their ambitions and their opponents - in the tremulous, haunted years immediately after the First World War. Joanna Miller brings 1920s Oxford to life with a vivid immediacy and makes us care deeply about four young women who find themselves pioneers in a strange new world, trying to find a way forward in the aftermath of war. A thoroughly lovely debut that will win many hearts, with its celebration of friendship and the persistence of hope

JOANNA QUINN, author of The Whalebone Theatre

These women soon become friends through the page and make me fondly and nostalgically recall that feeling of pure hope, wonder and fear as one stands on the edge of adult life simply wondering. Hoping. And wondering some more.

Engaging, warm and intelligent, this debut about the first women students at Oxford - their deep friendship, and all they must face - is a delight!

I loved this book. A hugely entertaining and brilliant-written novel which gives us not one, not two but four incredible female characters to root for. Meticulously researched and impeccably crafted. An entirely delightful debut

ANNA MAZZOLA, author of The Clockwork Girl

Totally immersive and captivating. This is a GLORIOUS debut and the struggles of these four women felt incredibly real. Impeccably researched and beautifully written. I ADORED it. One of my books of the year for sure.

JULIE OWEN MOYLAN, author of That Green Eyed Girl

The Eights is a beautifully life-affirming novel with wonderful characterisation. I was completely immersed in the atmospheric world of post-war Oxford that Miller has created, and rooting every step of the way for her four brilliantly inspiring heroines. I've no doubt it will be one of my books of the year.

The Eights is an impeccably crafted novel about four women struggling for equality in the 1920s that still feels painfully relevant today. It’s a story that encapsulates the power and beauty of female friendships and it will stay with me for a long time

JOSIE FERGUSSON, author of The Silence In Between

What a debut. The four girls are so deftly and convincingly characterised – and it is easy to forget how difficult it was in this era for women to make their way. A must read

ELIZABETH BUCHAN, author of Bonjour, Sophie

Charming, quietly devastating, the four young women at the heart of The Eights have stayed with me long after putting the book down. Joanna's lightness of touch belies the tragedies and compromises women were confronted with amid the echo of the Great War, and how they fought for recognition and acceptance at Oxford University. A spellbinding, heartbreaking and utterly hopeful book.

CATHRYN KEMP, author of A Poisoner's Tale

A hugely atmospheric snapshot of Oxford at a momentous point in its history ... Intriguing, clever and completely absorbing. The city itself was so cleverly drawn - I could feel the changing atmosphere of Oxford throughout the year ... I absolutely loved it.

CAROL ATHERTON, author of Reading Lessons

Such an enjoyable book. I loved its carefully crafted world and the focus on the abiding friendship between the four women, whom I came to think of friends myself by the end. It was moving, spirited and a lot of fun, much like the heroines of the novel

ZOË SOMERVILLE, author of The Marsh House

Dazzling and illuminating. A polyphonic story of sisterhood and solidarity, following four women as they cement their place in a world of men, and in history

I fell in love with this book from the first chapter ... Miller pens such a vivid portrait of the lives of young women finding their way in a man's world under the long shadow of the Great War. It's dripping with historical detail ... What I adored most though was the life-affirming friendships ... The true strength of this novel is the realisation of how powerful female solidarity can be. A joyous anthem to friendship

KATE THOMPSON, author of The Little Wartime Library

The Eights has all the hallmarks of a modern classic! Beautiful writing and superb characterisation evoking a hugely important time in our history which still resonates today. I adored this book

CAROLE HAILEY, author of The Silence Project

Witty and charming … an atmospheric testament to the power of friendship and the tenacious young women who led the charge for equality of opportunity

JESSICA BULL, author of A Fortune Most Fatal

A triumph. Pin-sharp, atmospheric, a historical fiction novel about four women admitted to Oxford University in 1920 - but also a sweeping tale of female friendship and the fight for equality in the wake of World War One ... A stunning debut, a window into a world not so long ago, yet entirely different from our own.

Dark academia is everywhere but what about comfort-reading academia? The Eights by Joanna Miller is a gorgeous debut about the first female students allowed to matriculate at Oxford in 1920, and I utterly adored it. In a world still reeling from the impact of WW1, and still rife with sexism, it’s far from frothy but the bonds between Otto, Beatrice, Marianne, and Dora are so deep and strong I know I’ll come back to this book in the future for guaranteed blissful reading. Fans of Quinn, both Frances and Joanna, will love this novel for a long time

What a beautifully tender study of trauma and recovery - emotional without becoming over-sentimental. I was rooting for the four women from the very first page. What particularly impressed me was how Jo managed to convey the hurdles faced by women in that era while still writing likeable, well-rounded male characters. All in all, a glorious read

FIZA SAEED MCLYNN, author of The Midnight Carousel

'A heartwarming and inspiring exploration of sisterhood and friendship, the guilt and grief of surviving the war and the human connections we need to keep living ... I felt bereft when it ended'

NATALIE GREGORY, author of Mother, Ghost, Mangoseed

I wholeheartedly recommend this joyful read about the power of female friendship

Good Housekeeping, 10 hot books to read in 2025

An ode to sisterhood and fighting misogyny

I LOVED The Eights. What an achievement! It felt so energising, fresh, important. I loved all four of the characters - I was on Corridor Eight with them, willing them on - and I particularly loved that the heart of the novel is female friendship, power, possibility ... It's the sort of books one gives one's best friends - and so I shall

The Eights is not only blissful escapism, it's also a beautifully wrought story of women’s rights, freedom, love and experience. I couldn’t put it down.

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.

Joanna Miller

Praise for The Eights

An entertaining and moving imagining of four smart women dealing with the engrained misogyny of the time. I came to love and admire the four as if they were my sisters

My book of the year. The writing is wonderful, the subject fascinating and the storylines utterly absorbing. I’m so sad I’ve finished it. I loved everything about this book. I ADORED it

I so enjoyed The Eights and became completely involved in the lives of the four pioneering heroines whose friendship is the beating heart of the book

An entertaining and moving imagining of four smart women dealing with the engrained misogyny of the time. I came to love and admire the four as if they were my sisters

My book of the year. The writing is wonderful, the subject fascinating and the storylines utterly absorbing. I’m so sad I’ve finished it. I loved everything about this book. I ADORED it

I so enjoyed The Eights and became completely involved in the lives of the four pioneering heroines whose friendship is the beating heart of the book

An entertaining and moving imagining of four smart women dealing with the engrained misogyny of the time. I came to love and admire the four as if they were my sisters

My book of the year. The writing is wonderful, the subject fascinating and the storylines utterly absorbing. I’m so sad I’ve finished it. I loved everything about this book. I ADORED it

I so enjoyed The Eights and became completely involved in the lives of the four pioneering heroines whose friendship is the beating heart of the book

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