# Poor Cow

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/nell-dunn/poor-cow/9781844089819

![Poor Cow](https://quivercdn.com/covers/virago/nell-dunn/poor-cow_978-18-4408-981-9.jpg?v=2026-04-29%2002%3A11%3A57)

- 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: 978-18-4408-981-9
- Pages: 1
- Published: 2013-08-01
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

THE BESTSELLING NOVEL BY NELL DUNN 'Her art is ignited by voice . . . as you hear it, is unquestionable' ALI SMITH, GUARDIAN 'Touching, truthful and fresh' MARGARET DRABBLE 'Nell Dunn's hilarious, heartbreaking Poor Cow, about a single mother in sixties London' PARIS REVIEW Joy - also called Blossom, Sunshine and Blondie by the men in her life - walks down Fulham Broadway carrying her week-old baby, Jonny. She is twenty-one with bleached hair, high suede shoes and a head full of dreams. Her husband Tom is a thief and on the proceeds of a job they move to a luxury flat - 'the world was our oyster and we chose Ruislip'. Then Tom is sent to prison, leaving Joy and Jonny to move in with Auntie Emm. This is Joy's story: an exuberant, pink-lipsticked, tale of London life, love and young motherhood in the sixties . . . Poor Cow explores the life of a young working-class girl in the swinging sixties as she navigates the consequences of her decisions. Nell Dunn's 1967 novel was also made into a film directed by Ken Loach.