Why a Booktrail?
1920s: Inspired by a true story – They knew they were changing history. They didn’t know they would change each other.
The Eights
What you need to know before your trail
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.
Locations
Reset- England - Oxfordshire - Culham
- L: Culham/St Pauls's Church
- M: Magdalen Tower
- England - Hertfordshire
- N: Berkhamsted Common
- O: Berkhamsted Golf Club
Travel Guide
Travel Guide
Oxford
The author says in her note that apart from the main characters’ homes, the locations used in the novel are all real, as is the history behind them.
For example, Somerville College and the Examination Schools were indeed converted into military hospitals. Joanna made a few minor changes for the sake of the story, such as moving the position of the Good Luck Tea Rooms from Cornmarket to Broad Street. The Church at Culham is actually called St Paul’s.
There is a map inside the hardback editions which includes some of the many locations within the university that feature in the book.
The colleges
Lots of different colleges feature in The Eights. The women’s colleges were actually defined as halls or societies in 1920 – 1926. However, archived letters and articles show they were commonly referred to as colleges. The Society for Home Students later became St Anne’s College. There is more information on the Oxford University website.
Otto, Beatrice, Dora and Marianne and most of the students are drawn from the author’s imagination. There are a number of cameos though, including Vera Brittain, Winifred Holtby and the principal of St Hugh’s, Eleanor Jourdain. Some of the fictional students’ names are borrowed from the magazine of the women’s colleges, the Fritillary.
Trail Gallery
Booktrailer Review
This is one of those novels that you think is pure fiction but is actually inspired by real facts. This is the story of three women who weren’t allowed to study at Oxford and weren’t respected when they did. But they weren’t having any of that nonsense.
What a jewel of a read! I got angry on their behalf. Felt like storming in one of those meetings myself. This is going to be good for bookclubs and plenty of discussions.
A really good insightful read!
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Eights
Destination/Location: Oxford, Culham, Berkhamsted Author/guide: Joanna Miller Departure: 1920s
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