The Eights by Joanna Miller

Joanna Miller’s debut novel, The Eights, was an absolute treat. I found myself trying to spin out the time I got to spend with these four women. 

It is 1920 and Oxford University has for the first time in its 1,000-year history admitted female students as full members of the university. In October, at the start of Michaelmas term, four young women move into Corridor Eight of St. Hugh’s College. They couldn’t be more different, but soon the unlikely quartet become the closest of friends. 

Not everyone is happy about women being allowed in the university and from the first day the foursome find themselves having to face opposition from a group of rowdy male freshers, who accost the women in the street as they walk to the Divinity School where they will be among the first women to matriculate at Oxford University. The incident leaves them all shaken, to varying degrees. But after a quick stop in a tearoom, they are refreshed and able to become better acquainted.

Beatrice Sparks has lived her life in the shadow of her famous suffragette mother. Oxford is her chance to finally become her own person, forge a new life, and make her own friends, something she has never had the opportunity to do, as she was an only child and did not go to school. 

Marianne Grey is making plans to abandon her course before her first day has started. The only daughter of a poor vicar, she cuts an unassuming figure in a secondhand academic gown and ill fitting shoes. A most unlikely person to have a secret so deep that it could destroy her Oxford dream if it were to be discovered.

After losing her brother, George, and her fiancé, Charles, in the Great War, Theodora Greenwood has arrived at Oxford in their place. Her mother doesn’t believe in higher education for women, but with all of the surplus women at least Dora might put her time at Oxford to good use and find a husband. Even Dora admits, “Had Charles lived, she would never have wanted to study at Oxford” (10).

Ottoline Wallace-Kerr hasn’t talked to her mother in two years, not since she refused Teddy’s proposal. Teddy is a good friend, but no. For thrill-seeking socialite Otto, Oxford is a cure to boredom. And if she is being honest, its a way to escape the images that haunt her from her time nursing during the war. The only thing that “provides moments of absorption and calm” for Otto is mathematics (12). Eight is her favourite number. A good sign.

But they do not divulge their innermost secrets to each other all at once. Over the three terms that make up their first year at Oxford they slowly open up to each other. Some secrets run so deep that they are only revealed at the end of the year.

What first attracted me to this book was the time and place in history it is set. It was evident that the author did a lot of research in the writing of this book. I felt thoroughly immersed in the world. It is incredible how many rules were imposed on the women students that were not required of the men. And I loved the mentions of students Winifred Holtby and Vera Brittain, Agatha Christie receiving her degree, and Thomas Hardy getting an honorary doctorate. But what makes this such an endearing book are the friendships that form between these woman. Outside of living on the same floor at their college, these four would not likely have been attracted to each other. But the combination of living in close proximity, the common goal of getting an Oxford education, and the incident they experience just after meeting, all create the perfect circumstances to make their friendship not just believable, but feel natural and true.

I love this line from Beatrice, who starts off the year never having experienced friendship firsthand. She has, however, observed her mother with her plethora of friends. Something that Beatrice has wanted for herself.

She never imagined, though, that friendship involved so much mundanity; arranging to enter rooms together, sharing one’s daily timetable, lending and borrowing items. Not that she does not enjoy it, but mutual reliance and constant company are new concepts to her and sometimes she finds herself in desperate need of a moment alone — no doubt something her mother would consider a weakness. (43)

I appreciate Beatrice’s observations about the mundanity that often feeds friendship, and that despite her enjoyment in her new friendships, she recognises her need for alone time. Much later in the book, she expresses her concern to Otto that these feelings are not natural.

‘I do wonder if I am any good at it — friendship, I mean. It seems to come so easily to the rest of you. Sometimes I have to hide away in my room because I need to be quiet. As if I’ve eaten too much and feel uncomfortable and have to sleep it off. Is that very odd?’

Otto groans. ‘I do that all the time, you idiot. Friendship is like this quilt — cosy mainly, but it can also be utterly stifling. I can assure you, the need to escape is entirely normal.’ 

‘Oh.’

‘And for the record, you are very good at it — friendship.’ Otto takes a lace-edged handkerchief from her pocket and tosses it at Beatrice. ‘Now buck up and stop fishing for compliments.’ (290-91)

These women are never in competition with each other. They build one another up. They celebrate their wins, commiserate on their losses, and are there to lend a hand when needed. In the course of a year this group goes through a lot. Because this is set just two years after the Great War, they have all been affected by it in some way. None of them have come through the war unchanged, and most of them are dealing with loss.

One of the similarities between these four women are that they all have absent mothers. Beatrice’s mother has no use for Beatrice. When she is not busy with her causes, she is putting Beatrice down. Otto’s mother has been in America for the past two years, helping Otto’s horrible sister set up house. The two have not spoken since she left, because Otto’s mother won’t talk to her until she has left Oxford and accepted Teddy’s offer of marriage. Apparently, getting married is more important than one’s happiness. Dora’s relationship with her mother is probably the most ideal of the group, and her mother is only allowing her an education because it will put her in the path of young men. 

Lastly, Marianne’s mother died in child birth. At one point Otto comes back to the college drunk and asks Marianne if she misses her mother. Marianne puts Otto off. Despite Otto opening up to Marianne about her own mother, Marianne isn’t ready to share.

Marianne thinks about marching up to Otto and shouting in her face. I feel sick every day. I’m jealous when I see mothers with daughters. I feel like I’m half-finished, that I’m always waiting for something to happen, that I’m all alone. So, yes, you could say I miss her. (102)

It’s an emotional scene. While Marianne is the only one who does not know what it is like to have a mother, none of them know what it is to have a loving and supportive mother. None of them have been taught by their mothers about how to be friends with other women. Instead, they teach each other. And I just think that is so beautiful. 

I want to thank Kathryn (@_the_book_bug_) for bringing this book to my attention. After reading her review on Instagram I couldn’t get the book out of my head. A day later, I pre-ordered it. I’m so happy I did!

As I said earlier, so much was I enjoying my time with these women that I tried to spin out the reading of The Eights. When I finished—other than experiencing a sense of loss for not having these characters in my life anymore—I had this overwhelming need to know what happens next for these women. I do not often say this, but I would love to see a follow up book that picks up where this one left off. Perhaps, better yet, one that picks up at their degree ceremony. I’m dying to know how these women go on to light the world on fire, because I’m certain they do.

This blog post contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s. As a Blackwell’s Affiliate, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through one of the links on my website. I recommend Blackwell’s because I use them myself. This helps support me in sharing—what I hope is—valuable content. Thank you for your support!

High Wages by Dorothy Whipple

I fell in love with High Wages from the first line. “Jane Carter had come to Tidsley on her half-day off to look at the shops, but she looked mostly at the sky” (7). Not only is it such a beautiful image, 17-year-old Jane standing in the middle of the marketplace with her head tilted up to look at the sky, but it also wonderfully sets up our main character. She intends to just look at the shops, but finds herself looking for more. Jane continues to be forward looking throughout this book, and it is her eagerness to be more, to do more, that propels her forward, turning a premise that in another writer’s hands might feel like not much more than a trite fairytale into something perfectly believable. 

Jane gets a job at a draper’s shop in a small town in Lancashire. It’s 1912 and since her father’s death, Jane has been living with her stepmother who has made it perfectly clear that Jane is an unwanted encumbrance. At first she is thrilled with the new job, where she is expected to live-in. She gets to cut fabric, learns about the customers, and finds she has a talent for the work. But soon reality sets in. The low pay, an employer who swindles his employees out of their commissions, too little food, and long hours starts to take the wind out of Jane’s sails. Although, not out of her sales. (Do you see what I did there? Ha!) More and more Lucy is the one who Chadwick’s customers approach when they enter the shop. And if Mr. Chadwick paid his employees honestly, the commissions from Jane’s sales would help to ease her poverty. But the fact that Jane has more of talent for knowing what will suit a customer, and how best to dress the shop windows, doesn’t endear her to Mr. Chadwick like it should. After all, her skill as a salesperson and her ideas, are bringing more money into the shop. In his mind, she should be tamped down so as not to think she is worth more than he pays his other employees.

All the while, Jane spends her off-time with her coworker, Maggie, and her coworker’s boyfriend, Wilfrid. The trio take long walks in the surrounding countryside and Jane finds a friend and fellow dreamer in Wilfrid. From the first there are warning signs that perhaps Jane and Wilfrid have a little too much to talk about, much more than Maggie and Wilfrid have to say to each other, anyway. Although, Maggie and Wilfrid met at the library where Wilfrid works, it was while exchanging books for her employer’s wife. Maggie does not take an interest in reading. But Jane does.

Jane put her hand behind the velveteen shelf and brought out Ann Veronica. She turned the pages eagerly. Her eyes would not move quickly enough along the lines for her. Oh, if only she had some time! Time to read it now; this minute.

Since Wilfrid had introduced her to H. G. Wells, Jane’s life had been different. Her horizons had widened and extended incredibly. H. G. Wells was like wind blowing through her mind. She felt strong and exhilarated after reading him. It didn’t matter whether she agreed with him or not. She wasn’t sure that he ever pointed out any road that she could follow. It didn’t matter. He made her want to get up and fight and go on . . . (54)

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Whipple has Jane reading H.G. Wells’ 1909 novel, Ann Veronica, and finding inspiration from it regardless of whether or not the can find her own path within its pages. I haven’t read Ann Veronica, and have but a vague idea of the plot. What I do know is that it is termed as a New Woman novel. The term “new woman” originates from an 1894 article written by feminist writer Sarah Grand and is used to describe “an independent woman seeking radical change” (thank you, Wikipedia). While High Wages was published in 1930, it begins only years after Ann Veronica was published, so it seems reasonable to assume that we are meant to align Jane with the New Woman who is not only willing to effect radical change in her life, but seeking it out. Readers familiar with Ann Veronica shouldn’t expect Jane to follow Ann’s example too closely. After all, “[Jane] wasn’t sure that [H.G. Wells] ever pointed out any road that she could follow”.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about this book was getting to see Jane’s growing love of literature. Books are another way of looking at the sky. She memorises a poem Wilfrid has copied out for her, William Blake’s “The Tyger” and says it over to herself on her day off when she is out visiting the park. “She loved it; it shattered the commonplace” (81).

Wilfrid continues to recommend books to Jane, which she borrows from the lending library. And so their relationship grows. Jane doesn’t take a romantic interest in Wilfrid, but it quickly becomes clear that it is Jane who Wilfrid looks forward to seeing on their Sunday walks, not his girlfriend Maggie. The relationships get complicated, Jane meets someone she takes an interest in from afar, but she always has her eye on improving herself and her situation. 

When she has the opportunity to open her own dress shop, it could not have come at a better time. I will refrain from discussing how that happens, because I don’t want to give away anymore than I already have. The focus of this book is not in Jane’s romantic relationships, it is about Jane, the running of her shop, how she finds fulfilment in her business, and how that in turn effects the rest of her life, including her relationships both romantic and otherwise.

She was happy. The business enthralled her. Not only the making of money enthralled her, but the actual life of the shop enthralled her. The people who came into the shop. Those women, now, whose sole interest in life was clothes, clothes, more and more clothes. Jane had often an entirely unbusiness-like impulse to beg them to stop buying. (246-47)

After recognising what she enjoys about her work, Jane goes on to wonder what drove certain women to keep dressing up. Whipple could have made Jane insular and selfish, but instead she wrote a character who both has an interior life and continues to look outside herself. 

When I came across this next quotation I had to smile. “She bolstered herself up by visions of the little shop. The walls were being distempered in French grey to-day. She was dying to see how it would look” (185). French grey seems a most fitting colour for the walls of a shop in a Persephone book, doesn’t it?

There are one are two aspects of the ending that missed the mark for me. If I had written this review immediately upon finishing the book I would have complained more about them. But as time has passed I realise the ending I envisioned would have tied everything together into a neat and palatable little bow. Whereas the way Whipple has concluded the book is more true to life in some ways. However, my Jane would have chosen a slightly different path.

This book starts in 1912 and continues through World War I and for some time afterwards. It talks about running a shop, women’s fashion, a love of literature, and contains beautiful descriptions of the countryside. There is a grand ball, a wedding, a financial scandal, the forming of friendship, the complications of romantic love, and the magic of finding friends that become closer than family.

While the lives of the characters in this book are not free of sadness or difficulties, overall, High Wages is a delightful book. It will make you think, but won’t be overtaxing. And if you are anything like me, it will make you cry, but I won’t say how hard. 

This blog post contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s. As a Blackwell’s Affiliate, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through one of the links on my website. I recommend Blackwell’s because I use them myself. This helps support me in sharing—what I hope is—valuable content. Thank you for your support!