Four Women, One Extraordinary Story: An Evening with Joanna Miller
One of our favourite books of 2025 was Joanna Millers debut novelThe Eights, so were thrilled to welcome Joanna to Mold to celebrate the release of the paperback edition. Join us for what promises to be a captivating evening exploring the remarkable story of the first women admitted to Oxford University an event not to be missed.
They knew they were changing history. They didnt know they would change each other.
Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the worlds 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 fianc 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. SocialiteOttofills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they wont 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 Oxfords 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.
LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION DEBUT CROWN AWARD, 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.
They knew they were changing history. They didnt know they would change each other.
Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the worlds 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 fianc 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. SocialiteOttofills her room with extravagant luxuries but fears they wont 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 Oxfords 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.
LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION DEBUT CROWN AWARD, 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.
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