The Eights

They knew they were changing history. They didn't know they would change each other.

Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1,000-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 and find themselves thrust into an unlikely, life-affirming friendship. They have come here from all walks of life, but Dora, Beatrice, Otto and Marianne all long to move on from the Great War, whose ghosts, grief, and secrets still feel very real indeed.

But Oxford is a place caught between tradition and change, where centuries of misogyny and exclusion clash with the promise of new freedoms. And as the group navigate this tumultuous moment in time under the city’s dreaming spires, their friendship will become more important than ever.

‘A beautifully wrought story of women’s rights, freedom, love and experience. I couldn’t put it down’ Harriet Evans, author of The Treasures

‘I 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

Joanna has always loved stories – even from an early age, when the Headteacher complained to her parents that she had read all the books in the school library. Joanna went on to study English at Exeter College, Oxford and later returned to the University to train as a teacher.

After ten years in education, she set up an award-winning poetry gift business. During this time, she wrote thousands of poems to order and her rhyming verse was filmed twice by the BBC.

Unable to resist the lure of the classroom, Joanna recently returned to Oxford University to study for a diploma in creative writing. THE EIGHTS is her debut novel and is inspired by her love of local history and historical fiction.

When Joanna is not writing, she is either walking her dog or working in the local bookshop. She lives with her husband and three children near the Grand Union Canal in Hertfordshire, UK.

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I ADORED it. What a fantastic read. My book of the year — Jill Mansel

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

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

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 — TRACY CHEVALIER

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 — JILL MANSELL

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

The Eights has heart, soul, intelligence and wit, and packing it might well make a suitcase lighter — Mick Herron, What We're Reading for Summer 2025

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. — EMMA BARNETT

Engaging, warm and intelligent, this debut about the first women students at Oxford - their deep friendship, and all they must face - is a delight! — LUCY ATKINS, author of Magpie Lane

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