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Poor Cow

A Virago Modern Classic
By Nell Dunn
Series: Virago Modern Classics
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Brief Description
THE BESTSELLING 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... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
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An exuberant, pink-lipsticked, bestselling tale of London life, love and young motherhood in the sixties - now reissued as part of the Classics with Bite collection.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
THE BESTSELLING 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

Series: Virago Modern Classics

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780349020853

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 22 January 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Virago Press Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 134g

Pages: 160

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Nell Dunn Series: Virago Modern Classics

About the Author

Nell Dunn (1936) is an English playwright, screenwriter and author. She was educated at a convent which she left at the age of fourteen.

She shot to fame with Poor Cow (1967) and Up the Junction (1963), both of which became successful films. Up the Junction won the John Llewellyn Rhys prize.

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