Exeter alumna Joanna Miller’s debut novel The Eights wins The Berties 2025

Exeter College is delighted to announce that alumna Joanna Miller (1987, English) has been awarded the 2025 Berties “Book of the Year” for her debut novel The Eights. After five rounds of voting, including several remarkably close results and one tiebreak, a shortlist of 32 books was narrowed to this single winner.  

Published in April 2025 by Fig Tree, The Eights imagines the lives of four young women who, in 1920, become among the first women formally admitted to the University of Oxford. The novel follows their arrival at Oxford, their shared lodgings on “Corridor Eight” of St Hugh’s College, and the bonds and conflicts that emerge as they face misogyny, postwar trauma, and societal expectations.  

Miller, who studied English at Exeter and later returned to Oxford for a creative writing diploma, has crafted the book as a “love letter to academia and to a time and a place.” Judges for The Berties, a prize awarded entirely by readers via votes, praised The Eights for its vivid characters, emotional depth, and resonant portrayal of women’s first steps into Oxford’s historic halls.  

This award adds to a growing list of honours for The Eights, which has already attracted attention for its careful blend of historical detail, camaraderie, and drama. It also highlights Exeter’s proud tradition of alumni contributing meaningfully to contemporary literature. 

You can purchase your copy of The Eights from Burts Books and other booksellers.