Book Review: The Eights

The Eights by Joanna Miller (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2025).

Joanna Miller’s debut novel transports us to St. Hugh’s College, Oxford, in 1920, the first year that women were allowed to matriculate there. Miller introduces us to four students, Dora, Beatrice, Marianne, and Otto (short for “Ottoline”), who become known as the Eights because they’re all residents of Corridor Eight at the college. Despite their very different personalities and backgrounds, the proximity draws them together, and their shared burdens and anxieties quickly lead to a lasting friendship.

Fellow fans of Dorothy L. Sayers’s Gaudy Night (one of my all-time favorite books) will quickly feel at home in this Oxford setting, with its irrepressible students livening up its stately buildings and beautiful natural surroundings. And indeed, Miller lists Sayers’s novel in her bibliography at the back. But there are significant differences between the novels as well. While Gaudy Night told the story of an alumna going back to Oxford for a reunion, or “gaudy,” and then helping the dons there solve a mystery, The Eights focuses on a group of students, bringing a more youthful perspective. And while Gaudy Night is set pre-World War II, occasionally hinting at the cataclysm that its author suspected was coming, The Eights is set just post-World War I, shadowed by the cataclysm that recently ended.

For these young women, everything about university life is new and fresh, and frequently overwhelming. Each in her own way 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. Dora is grieving the loss of loved ones; Otto is haunted by gruesome memories of what she saw while serving in military hospitals. On top of that, they’re all carrying the sometimes punishing weight of being a generation of women from whom so much is expected, while facing attacks from men young and old who can’t handle the idea of women getting an education. (Some things never change.)

But I don’t mean to give the impression that the story is all gloom and doom. 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.

(Cover image copyright G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy.)

Book Links:

The Eights releases April 15, but can be pre-ordered at the links below:

The Eights on Amazon
The Eights on Bookshop

Goodreads Reviews:

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Notes:

1. I apologize that this post is late. I made a mistake when posting last night, with the result that most of you didn’t get the original post in your e-mail, and I had to delete it and redo it.

2. I’ll be taking Easter off, so the next edition of this newsletter will appear April 27. Happy Easter to all who celebrate!