This is Kelsey Patterson with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today, I’m recommending longtime educator and poet Joanna Miller’s debut novel, The Eights, which follows the unlikely yet unshakable friendship of four women in the first formally admitted female class at Oxford.
Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and fiancé on the battlefields of World War I, she’s 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 a distraction from the memories that haunt her. And finally, Marianne, the quiet, clever daughter of a village pastor, has a shocking secret she must hide from everyone, even her new friends, if she is to succeed.
Among the university’s historic spires, and in the long shadow of the Great War, these four women must navigate and support one another through heartbreak, personal
loss, academic battles, and the ever-present weight of societal expectations. I can’t speak to the historical accuracy of each little piece of the story, as I obviously wasn’t at Oxford in 1920, but the setting and details feel authentic. The author often begins chapters with real newspaper excerpts or a set of university rules and regulations
(which illustrate the double standards in the way male and female students were treated). There’s also a handy glossary at the end to help with any unfamiliar academic terms or those unique to Oxford.
Miller’s writing is nothing short of captivating, and she writes with such raw, emotional depth. This book feels like both an ode to the power of education and to the kind of friendships that leave a permanent mark on your soul.
Check out The Eights and other poignant works of historical fiction like it at the Sioux City Public Library.
Support for Check It Out on Siouxland Public Media comes from Avery Brothers.
