The Boy at the Gate

"An Irish singer/songwriter's powerful debut memoir about growing up...orphaned and abandoned . . . in Dublin." —Kirkus Reviews

Danny Ellis spent years trying to forget his childhood in the slums of Dublin and the notorious Artane Industrial School for orphans. But one night, in the mountains of North Carolina, while Danny was writing songs for his acclaimed album 800 Voices, the past came flooding back. Danny was stunned to discover that his eight-year-old self was still trapped in a world he thought he had left behind.
Danny's haunting recollections led him back to the streets of Dublin, to the tenement slums, and, ultimately, to the malice and mischief of the Artane playground. What he discovered with each twist and turn of his odyssey would forever change his life.

The Boy at the Gate is a brutally honest depiction of a young boy's struggle to survive orphanage life, and stands as an inspiring testament to the healing power of music.

"A beautifully written, heartbreaking story . . . I love this book!"—Sara Gruen, bestselling author of Water for Elephants

"Like a true song, this story is finely crafted workmanship, unashamedly human with its pain and perplexity, yet unabashedly divine with grace and light and love woven into the tapestry beneath the tweed . . . It is a treasure!" —William Paul Young, author of The Shack

"A gifted writer . . . Filled with both winks and tears, this book proves that goodness can shine even in the ugliest places." —Booklist