# Poor Cow

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/nell-dunn/poor-cow/9780349020853

![Poor Cow](https://quivercdn.com/covers/virago/nell-dunn/poor-cow_978-03-4902-085-3.jpg?v=2026-04-29%2002%3A11%3A54)

- Book: [Poor Cow](https://www.bookquiver.com/nell-dunn/poor-cow) ([Poor Cow.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/nell-dunn/poor-cow.md))
- Authors: [Nell Dunn](https://www.bookquiver.com/nell-dunn)
- Publisher: virago
- ISBN: 978-03-4902-085-3
- Pages: 1
- Published: 2026-01-22
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

THE BESTSELLLING CLASSIC OF SIXTIES LONDON 'Touching, truthful and fresh - a tour de force' MARGARET DRABBLE 'Hilarious, heartbreaking' PARIS REVIEW 'Her art is ignited by voice' ALI SMITH, GUARDIAN 'Exuberantly alive' SUNDAY TIMES To think when I was a kid I planned to conquer the world and if anyone saw me now they'd say, 'She's had a rough night, poor cow.' Joy - twenty-one, bleach-blonde, a head full of dreams - walks down Fulham Broadway in a maternity dress and high suede shoes, carrying her week-old baby. Her husband Tom is a thief and on the proceeds of a job they move to a luxury flat in Ruislip, all new lino and fitted carpets. Then Tom is sent to prison, leaving Joy to move in with Auntie Emm - and to grapple with motherhood, modelling and unreliable men. Exuberant, earthy and tender, Poor Cow was a revelatory portrait of sixties London life. INTRODUCED BY MARGARET DRABBLE