The Eights

We are delighted to welcome author Joanna Miller to Brown Onion Books, to celebrate the paperback publication of her uplifting debut novel, The Eights.

The Eights follows four women who, in the shadow of WW1, are part of the first class of women who are allowed to enroll at Oxford University.

This captivating debut novel is about sisterhood, self-determination, courage, and what it means to come of age in a world that is forever changed.

Come along to this special event with author Joanna Miller at our bookshop on Thursday 30th July. The paperback is available at the shop from June 4th.

All tickets include an author talk, Q&A and Joanna will be signing books afterwards. There is also 15% off any books purchased on the night.

Other ways to book:
Call 01335 368455 or pop into the shop.

About The Eights:

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. The Eights is a captivating debut novel about sisterhood, self-determination, courage, and what it means to come of age in a world that is forever changed.