{"product_id":"9781448215539","title":"Castle in the Air","description":"Visiting his aunt's pub is normally a waiting game, sitting outside to avoid the musty smell of beer and bacca. But when old Smiler takes a seat beside him, sucking in pint after pint through his gingery whiskers, a whole new world of battles and bones opens up before him…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  H. E. Bates – a prolific English novelist and short story writer – wrote 'Castle in the Air' for \u003ci\u003eThe Evening News\u003c\/i\u003e in 1957, but the story was never re-printed in any of his later collections. In fact, its existence was forgotten until 2013 when it was spotted accidentally during a rummage through a newspaper archive. On re-discovering this charming and humorous short story – which exemplifies H.E. Bates's great skill of drawing vivid characters and his ability to create an almost tangible sense of a place – Bates's descendants felt it had to be shared with a wider audience.   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBloomsbury Reader is delighted to be re-publishing 'Castle in the Air' alongside the whole body of H. E. Bates's short fiction and novellas, and here we offer it as a free taste of Bates's irresistible writing.","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47155415286000,"sku":"9781448215539","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781448215539_p0.jpg?v=1763830288","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781448215539","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}