On October 7, 1920, British history was made. This was the day that women could enter a four year program of study and graduate with a university degree from Oxford. Before this, women could take classes but never earn a degree. It was a radical move for one of the two English college towns, Cambridge wouldn't allow women to matriculate until 1948. But it wasn't granted without controversy. Many male professors thought that women would just take up classroom space, get married and have children. Several students enrolled or transferred to Cambridge, in order to study without female distraction. Women students had to follow arcane rules of etiquette, dress, and presentation, and they had to be no less than perfect to win their right to learn.
As the women of St. Hughes College for Women are gathered in the courtyard for the Matriculation Ceremony, their chaperone tells them to divide themselves in groups of four, dependent on their dorm corridors. The four girls of corridor eight introduce themselves, and all are drawn to each other, as they become good but unlikely friends. Beatrice is almost six feet tall and very politically aware as her mother is a famous suffragette. However, she has never met her mother's expectations of a poised outgoing daughter, and is consequently shy and unsure of herself. Marianne is a dedicated student of English literature, who fights with herself every day to stay in school. Dora is the beauty of the group who is only there because her brother died in the Great War. He was the one who would have attended, even though she was always the one who took education seriously. Ottoline, or Otto, came from an aristocratic family, who's members were known for their place in society. Unlike her fashionable sisters, Otto is fascinated by mathematics and is one of the few females to study numbers. She is also the one who bobs her hair and flouts all of the school rules-much to her professors dismay.
As we follow "the Eights," we watch these women battle constantly for their right to an Oxford education. With the chips stacked against them and having to deal with a large contingent of male animosity, studying and exams have to take a backseat to mere survival. As their secrets unravel, they find that they can help each other muddle through and stay the course, even when this seems impossible. Miller delivers a wonderful story of female bonding wrapped up in a fascinating historical novel. We have much to learn in this one.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
April 15, 2025
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