May I recommend to you Mr. Joe Lunn, the schoolmaster at the center of William Cooper’s novel, Scenes from Provincial Life.

Joe is a lovable laggard, always looking to get out of any actual work in that schoolroom. (You might learn his tricks for keeping teenage boys busy, leaving their master free to contemplate the plot of his next novel.)

The bright spot in Joe’s life is the borrowed cottage where he meets his girlfriend, Myrtle. Complicating matters, his friend Tom also uses the cottage to meet . . . Well, you’ll see. I felt guilty laughing over these scenes, but Cooper kept it pretty entertaining with one lover exiting stage right and another entering stage left.

Poor Myrtle. She longs to hear the words, “Darling, will you marry me?” but Joe fears being “tamed” by marriage. It wouldn’t do for a man who has so many novels waiting to come out. But she’s always welcome to spend the afternoon, anytime Joe can get the cottage to himself.

Meanwhile, rumors of war blow over from the continent. Hitler threatens to ruin all sorts of personal plans, whether drafting Joe’s schoolboys into the army or disrupting the serene moments a man needs to write his novel. (Hasn’t it occurred to Joe that a war would give him something to write about?)

Joe and Tom’s war-survival plan is to escape to America. They constantly debate their departure dates, and whether to include their lovers, or even inform them.

Meanwhile, Joe serves his time in that schoolroom. He needs to impress his senior masters enough to move up the career ladder and keep his heat bill paid, though it’s terrible that a man with literary ambitions must worry over matters so mundane. Also, the schoolboys keep an eye on his love life, passing along gossip, not all of it welcome.

And finally, grab yourself a cup of tea (or mug of root beer) and enjoy Joe’s lovely descriptions of his English village. They prove that, when Joe finally gets down to that novel, it will be something we’ll all want to read.