Books like Poor Cow

'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."'From the opening chapters I was enamoured of Nell Dunn's classic of 60s working class London, so much about its portrait of a young under educated girl felt completely perfect and true, even still relevant today. The milieu represented and the forthright manner in which it is represented, complete with emphasis on particular dialects spoken make it an obvious companion to the work of the media created "Angry Young Men" group of "Bright Young Literary Things" of the period.Joy is a mess of conflicting emotions, thoughts, actions and dreams, a memorable character who treads through the minefield of being female at this particular time in this particular place not with any skill but with a lot of honesty and heart BUT Dunn does tell the story with great skill and affection. Slipping from first person to third person and then in to transcribed letters to demonstrate her state of mind to great effect.The dialect of the uneducated got more than a little frustrating after a while, especially the poor cow's attempts at writing to her lover and I found myself grateful that the novel was only 140 pages on more than one occasion, but this is a small detraction in what otherwise would be considered a perfect novel.