Oof… I really wish I was beta reading this story instead of reading a review copy a few days before the pub date…

To me, this reads like an early working draft. Certain chapters are more put together than others. For the most part, The Eights does not illicit any emotion nor is written to be particularly interesting. The author frequently uses two (or five) sentences where one would have sufficed and has littered in an unbearable amount of rogue similes. Nothing unfolds in this story - every detail is revealed through painfully boring conversation between characters I did not care about or narration stating historical facts. We do not get to LIVE the history with our characters. I believe this story would’ve benefited heavily from choosing a main character from the bunch.

From the publisher’s description I should’ve LOVED this book for several reasons but I could not even like it even a little.

Though I dislike rating debut authors poorly, two stars is the absolute most I can give for “The Eights”

Ms. Miller’s book follows four young ladies who are among the first women to attend Oxford. This is in the heels of the end of WWI. All four experienced loss due to the Great War as they pave their path. Each of the four come from very diverse backgrounds but become fast friends even while keeping secrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It would be a great book club read/discussion.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy and to the author for writing a good read.

The Eights was a delightful surprise of a debut. We meet four women who have been admitted to Oxford University, the first ever women to do so. We meet the women, learn what brought them to Oxford and go along with them on their journeys. There is quite a lot going on here and at times it felt a bit muddled, trying to keep it all in my head, but it was compelling and there were surprising turns. I really enjoyed reading this and I look forward to seeing what Joanna Miller writes next.

I love a good well thought out historical Fiction and The Eights was exactly that. I didn't know much about the first class of women at Oxford and now I want to learn more after reading this book! This book is perfect for anyone who loves historical fiction and books about academia.

i liked the eights overall, but it definitely dragged in places. the middle felt kinda choppy and slow, like not much was actually happening, and it was hard to stay fully into it. but the plot twists surprised me more than once, which i wasn’t expecting, and i really liked the premise. some of the quotes were actually so good too. not perfect, but there were parts that really worked for me.

i think what stood out the most to me was the way it explored friendship and how some situations bring together people who otherwise might not be friends. the setting and time period added a cool layer too, with all the tension around women finally being allowed into spaces that were never built for them. it wasn’t super plot-heavy, but it had this quiet intensity that i appreciated at times. definitely a slower read, but one that had some really thoughtful moments.

📖 Title: The Eights-a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Joanna Miller-debut author

📅Publication date: 4-15-25 | Read 4-10-25

📃 Format: e-Book 384 pgs.

Genre:
*Women's Fic
*Historical Fic
*British Lit
*New Adult

Tropes:
*college student heroines
*women's suffrage
*feminism
*found family

👆🏾POV: 3rd person, multiple

⚠️TW: death of loved ones, bullying, misogyny

🌎 Setting: Oxford University 1920

Summary: Post WWI at Oxford University, four women bond over being a part of the first female class at the college. They face ridicule and are underestimated by everyone. They all have secrets and lean on each other in tough times.


👩🏾 Heroine: Beatrice Sparks-21, has no friends her age, wants to get out of her mother's shadow

👩🏾 Heroine: Marianne Grey-father is a pastor, goes home every weekend to help him

👩🏾Heroine: Theodora "Dora" Greenwood-20, came to Oxford in place of her deceased brother and fiancé.

👩🏾Heroine: Ottoline "Otto" Wallace-Kerr-24, turned down a proposal against her parents' wishes, the "rebellious" one.

🎭 Other Characters:

* Edith Sparks-Beatrice's famous women's suffragette mother
*George-Dora's brother-killed in the war
*Charles Baker-Dora's fiancé-killed in the war
*Henry Hadley-pastor who befriends Marianne
*Miss Jourdain-principal @ St. Hugh's


🤔 My Thoughts: I loved this historical fiction of female empowerment. All four women showed strength even when making hard decisions. Past trauma haunted them, but they faced it together leading to a satisfying conclusion.

Rating: 4/5 ✨
Spice level 0/5 🌶️

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons, and Joanna Miller for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

I loved this book. It covers an area of history that I am interested in (also in women's education) but did so through excellent character development. Each of the four women we followed throughout the book portrayed a depth of emotion and perspective which made the first class of women at Oxford seem real!

Thank you Netgalley & G.P.Putnam’s Sons for an eARC ❤️❤️❤️

You know when you finish a book and just sit there staring at the ceiling, feeling like your heart’s been gently cracked open?💔
*The Eights* did that to me. I picked it up thinking it’d be another historical fiction about plucky women in academia (which, don’t get me wrong, I *live* for), but what I got was this raw, achingly real story about friendship that feels less like reading and more like being folded into a late-night dorm room confessional. ♥️
Let me tell you about these women, because by page 50 they stopped being characters and started feeling like people I’d take a bullet for. Beatrice is all sharp edges and quiet fury—the kind of woman who stares down a professor sneering “Shouldn’t you be married?” and deadpan replies, “Shouldn’t *you* be intelligent?” (I cheered. Literally. My cat judged me.) Dora wears grief like a second skin, but there’s this moment where she absentmindedly fixes Otto’s collar while arguing about Latin verb conjugations that made me tear up over how love lives in the smallest gestures.
And Otto—god, Otto. A war nurse who’s seen things she can’t unsee, moving through the world like she’s half ghost, until Marianne drags her out at 2AM to steal apples from the dean’s garden. Their friendship arc lives rent-free in my head now: how they patch each other’s wounds with sarcasm and stubbornness and the occasional well-timed punch.
The quiet horror of how little has changed. These women fighting for scraps of respect in 1920 could walk into a STEM department today and hear the same condescension wrapped in prettier words. There’s a scene where Marianne—brilliant, vivacious Marianne—has to pretend she’s “just auditing” classes so male students won’t riot, and I had to put the book down and go breathe into a paper bag for five minutes.
I finished it at 3AM with that particular hollow-chested ache you only get from stories that reach into your ribs and rearrange something. Not because it’s sad (though oh, it *hurts* in places), but because it’s one of those rare books that makes you believe—really believe—in the revolutionary act of women loving each other well.

(And if anyone wants to start a petition for Miller to write 500 more pages of just Otto and Beatrice’s snarky letters to each other in their later years, I’ll sign it in blood.)

A propulsive historical fiction that follows an unlikely friendship of 4 women in the first female class at Oxford (1920) that move into Corridor 8 (become known as The Eights)- all coming from different classes, circumstances, and each contending with secrets. Takes place in the shadow of The Great War (WWI) & the women navigate & support each other in a turbulent post-war world that deals misogyny and ghost of the great war. It was a love letter to female friendship and Oxford. It did drag on in some places where I wish there was more character development, but overall, a solid book.

Each of the four main characters is dealing not just with the pressures of studying and social life, but also with the fallout from the war that upended all their lives, not to mention the still-present threat of deadly influenza and the ongoing attacks of misogynists. But Miller deftly balances the dark moments with scenes of warmth, humor, academic success, and the joys and comforts of friendship. More than anything else, it’s the women’s tight bond that carries them through their challenges, missteps, and setbacks, and keeps them committed to their chosen path. Miller has created her characters with insight and sensitivity, and while there are a couple of far-fetched subplots (and one odd headfake I’m still trying to figure out), for the most part their story is well told and their victories, large and small, are gratifying. (Full review at my Substack.)

Very enjoyable and well researched historical fiction! I appreciate learning more about post WWI in addition to the challenges experienced by the first females to officially attend Oxford University. Will definitely recommend this to my library patrons!

What a terrific book! The story of 4 young women entering Oxford University just after the end of the Great War (aka WW 1), these 4 very different women from very different backgrounds, become part of a group known as The Eight (because they are all on Floor/Corridor 8). Ottoline, known as Otto, comes from a moneyed family but she doesn't fit the mold of proper young lady looking for a husband, children and marriage. She's outspoken and a definite rule breaker. Beatrice's mom is a well known suffragette and a terrible mother; Beatrice wants to chart her own path separate from her distant and dismissive parent. Marianne is a parson's daughter with a secret she can't share. And Dora is suffering from the loss of her brother and fiancee in the war, looking to find new purpose in life. Somehow these very different women because close friends and each other's support through the challenges they navigate including male student's harassment, ridiculously confining rules and more. In a way it's a coming of age story for each of them, and for Oxford University male students as well.

The characters are so well developed, I'd love to be able to meet them. It's a fast but intense read; there is so much going on between the girls and around them at the same time. The scars of the war run deeply and differently through each of their stories. I couldn't put it down!

The Eights is a very character-driven historical novel about four women who are in the first class of women to matriculate at Oxford. I really enjoyed the Oxford setting and historical details. Miller clearly did her research and set up some interesting storylines. Ultimately, the women were a little too flat for such a character-based book, and with multiple side characters thrown in, I really struggled to keep track of who was who. The ending felt extremely abrupt; maybe an epilogue will appear between the ARC that I read and the final published version? Overall, this book had promise but didn't quite hit the mark. Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital review copy.

Four young women (Beatrice, Marianne, Theodora, and Ottoline) are dormmates at St. Hugh's, the first female college to be admitted to Oxford. All of their lives were affected by the Great War and they still have issues. The Eights chronicles the events of their first year at college.
While the subject was intrinsically interesting and I did get involved in the story, I found The Eights overlong at barely 350 pages.
The characters seem a bit stereotypical (Beatrice is freakishly tall, Dora is a beauty in mourning, Otto is an abrasive flapper with money, and Marianne is poor and has a secret) while at the same time tending to bleed into each other so that I had some trouble figuring out whose viewpoint I was reading. The "secret" was pretty easy to figure out.
After awhile I got very tired of reading descriptions of architecture, furnishings, nature, and food, because they tended to be repeated over and over again. The details of the really abominable treatment the women received from their professors and the male students was interesting, but again, the stories became repetitous.
This is a book about female friendship and the aftereffects of war. It wasn't bad, but it should have been better.
I am grateful to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the opportunity to read a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

My first advanced copy review! And what a great first one this was. Quite a page turner but not all in one sitting. It's remarkably detailed without boring you to tears. And you want to soak up the page.
Perspectives of four women at Oxford University in 1920, shortly after the Great War. Beautifully written about the era, the Oxford campus, the political climate regarding women's rights, and the sacrifices those people have made (or may not have depending on their privileges).

I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.


Literary fiction that’s bordering on being erudite, THE EIGHTS, is Joanna Miller’s debut foray into long form fiction. Her prior writings have been in poetry, award winning, at that.

Readers are invited into the ivy draped halls adjacent to Oxford University, shortly after the end of WWI. Four young women, from disparate backgrounds, come together in the same housing hall. They are the 8’s for a variety of reasons. Supposedly part of Oxford University’s first class to include women in 1000 years, Dora , Marianne, Beatrice and Otto need more than a passport to actually enter the esteemed university. The rules and requirements are “cringe”, (as contemporary students would say ), but the coping mechanisms are not so far removed from my own collegiate experiences some 50 years ago, well, minus all the imbibing…

Getting to know each character is overwhelming at the start of the novel. precariously close to info dumping. Taking time to read the author’s notes will help to alleviate some potential confusion. Also, take the time to familiarize yourself with the list of terms, especially if you’re not British or very familiar with their academic lingo from 100 years ago.

In perusing a few other reviews, I saw the words “misogynistic” and “archaic” but for me, these are contemporary accusations. In the 1920’s, post war, men and women had roles that were defined differently and in some cases, there were laws governing them. That didn’t necessarily make it right BUT it doesn’t make for misogyny; again, IMO, too bad it’s in the publishing blurb.

Author, Joanna Miller, does a very good job showing the burgeoning spirit of women into the world of academia at its most elite level. It’s an extremely complicated time in history: young men have been decimated by war, many that did return are wounded and/or traumatized without the benefit of proper psychological treatment and now are expected to resume their lives as if nothing happened - go back to school, work, girlfriends, families. Women had stepped up to fill the jobs men were forced to evacuate, or the very few unsung heroes who served in the service now were unceremoniously ignored or fired, and expected to return to their lives of tea and frippery. War had changed them all and its ongoing intrusion into the lives of each character in unique and sometimes insidious ways, is masterfully done.

Many of the events and secondary characters included in the storyline are actual historic figures or events. Weaving these into the narrative provides veracity readers will notice. The text is very classic in its construction employing complex sentences, proper grammar and punctuation, albeit with contemporary guidelines; sigh. Miller has chosen to take the high road in every avenue: no gratuitous descriptions of violence, sexual content and no foul language; kudos.
There are characters who experience rape, war trauma, social abuse, parental abuse/neglect, difficulty with relationships, and peer pressure.

THE EIGHTS is not a book you’ll flip thru quickly. I enjoyed it greatly because I like books that make me think, pay attention and invest in the characters. These four women are well drawn and I will remember two of them for a good long time. In fact, they would be worthy of a book of their own. Maybe this is Friendship Fiction with a side of Coming Of Age, just a tad older than usual. It’s WWI and it’s Historical Fiction but it’s also Women’s Fiction. Men are portrayed fairly,
I think, and this is a book that will have wide appeal for those who appreciate meat, not just fluff📚

Read and Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC, with thanks

A fascinating historical fiction about four women from the first female class at Oxford. Set after World War I, four women from very different backgrounds are brought together living in a dorm called corridor 8. Each woman has been affected by the war. One lost a brother and fiancee, one suffers from PTSD due to working as a volunteer nurse, one’s life is changed by her mother’s suffragette opinions and one had a life-changing experience on Armistice Day. Together they form a strong friendship while facing obstacles from their male counterparts, society’s expectations and their families pressures. I loved learning about this time period and enjoyed the references to the city of London. So many historical fiction novels are set in WWII, I’m happy to have a new one to recommend set in this time peiod.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC.

Set against the evocative backdrop of Oxford in 1920, The Eights tells the story of four women—Dora, Beatrice, Otto, and Marianne—who are among the first females officially admitted to Oxford University. Each of them carries her own baggage from the Great War and is driven by unique motivations, but what binds them is the deep, evolving friendship that forms in Corridor 8.

What I loved most about this book was the portrayal of female friendship. Joanna Miller writes the emotional highs and lows of their bond with nuance and heart—from moments of closeness and comfort to the inevitable tensions that arise when secrets surface or insecurities creep in. Watching their relationship shift and strengthen over the course of the school year was one of the most rewarding aspects of the novel.

Miller's dedication to historical detail shines through. The lingering presence of the war, the undercurrent of misogyny, the ever-present threat of influenza—it all felt grounded and real. I especially appreciated how the narrative slowly peeled back each character’s past: their lives before, during, and after the war. These glimpses gave weight to their present struggles and made their resilience even more powerful.

Overall, The Eights is a compelling, emotionally rich novel that explores friendship, grief, identity, and the cost of change in a world still healing from war. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and stories that center the strength and complexity of women’s lives.

Joanna Miller’s The Eights is a breathtaking, deeply moving novel that swept me away from the very first page. Set in 1920, at a time when women were just beginning to carve out space for themselves in academic institutions that had long shut them out, this story follows four remarkable young women who find themselves bound together by both circumstance and an unshakable friendship.

Beatrice, Dora, Otto, and Marianne—each carrying their own burdens, secrets, and dreams—become known as "The Eights" when they move into neighboring rooms in Oxford’s Corridor 8. But what begins as a simple coincidence quickly transforms into something far more profound. Through heartbreak, personal loss, academic battles, and the ever-present weight of societal expectations, these women find strength in one another, forming a sisterhood that feels both fragile and indestructible all at once.

Miller’s writing is nothing short of mesmerizing, balancing historical accuracy with raw, emotional depth. She doesn’t just tell us about the struggles these women face—she makes us feel them. We walk alongside Dora as she wrestles with grief, knowing she is only here because war stole the lives of the men in her family. We hold our breath as Marianne desperately hides a truth that could upend everything she has worked for. We ache with Otto as she tries to reclaim pieces of herself after serving as a war nurse, and we cheer for Beatrice as she refuses to let misogynistic professors and sneering male students determine her worth.

What makes The Eights so special is the way it captures the resilience of women—how they hold each other up, how they push back against a world that insists on diminishing them, and how, despite everything, they refuse to back down. It’s an ode to the power of education, to the fire that burns in those who dare to demand more, and to the kind of friendships that leave an imprint on your soul.

This novel will stay with me for a long time. If you love historical fiction that is both beautifully written and deeply resonant, if you adore stories of determined women standing together in the face of adversity, then The Eights is a book you absolutely cannot miss.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons for sharing this remarkable historical fiction's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book is so far up my alley it has a home there. Academia? Check. Feminism? Check. Close female friendship? Check. Complicated characters? Check. Historical fiction? Check.

'The Eights' did not disappoint. A multi-perpsective novel about the first female class to matriculate at Oxford, 'The Eights' honestly portrays the flaws and triumphs of eight different women at Oxford and in a nation recovering from World War One. It was well-written, but highly readable and not too dark, but did not shy away from more difficult topics.

I enjoyed the whole novel and all the characters but especially Beatrice and her relationship with her mother.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.