Extras

THE EIGHTS

BOOK GROUP QUESTIONS 

1. Why do you think Otto, Beatrice, Dora, and Marianne become friends when they are such different people?

2. How do the girls’ backgrounds influence their experience of Oxford? Which of them changes the most during the year?

3. Otto, in particular, dislikes the strict rules for female students. Why do you think these rules were put in place? Were you surprised by them?

4. We read a lot about relationships between mothers and daughters in the novel. What do you think about the various mothers in The Eights?

5. What is the significance of the number eight in the story and where does it appear?

6. What do you think of Charles and his behaviour? How much sympathy do you have for him?

7. Beatrice, Otto, Dora, and Marianne discuss being ‘surplus women’ and the possibility of not getting married. What are your thoughts on the various flirtations, courtships, and proposals in the novel?

8. The Ouija board spells out the word ‘Coward’. Why do you think this is and who does this word refer to?

9. Harold Macmillan described Oxford after the Great War as ‘A city of ghosts’. Do you think this is true of the novel?

10. The misogyny the women face from students and tutors is based on real events. Why did women fight so hard to study at Oxford when other universities were more welcoming?

11. What do you think of the way Oxford is portrayed in the novel. Why is it such a special place? Would the story work in a different location?