Summer Half by Angela Thirkell
A novel concerned with parties, punting and awkward passions follows the story of a headmaster plagued by love-sick masters and precocious pupils as well as importunate parents and most of all, his daughter Rose, whose stubborn dim-wittedness almost outweighs her startling beauty. This book is published simultaneously with "The Brandons". Angela Thirkell was one of the most celebrated comic novelists of her day.