The Boy at the Gate: A Memoir
Abandoned by his mother at age eight at the notorious Artane Industrial School in Dublin, Ellis lost his childhood. Decades later, the professional musician begins to recover his past by recording the album 800 Voices about his experiences, and this powerful memoir gracefully tells that story. A gifted writer, Ellis is effective at presenting abuse and neglect from the young boy’s perspective, without the elaboration of hindsight, the pathos of the memories only unraveling fully later. The tale is as rough as his tweed trousers and hobnail boots, rough as the cold showers and stinging leather straps he was forced to endure. Ellis is at his most poetic when writing about the power of music to protect and motivate him. The neglectful parents, the cruel Christian Brothers, and the scrappy orphanage boys are fully drawn, without mercy but equally without demonizing them. The rare moments showing kindness and courage in those surrounding him sparkle against a relentlessly grim backdrop. Filled with both winks and tears, this book proves that goodness can shine even in the ugliest places. --Bridget Thoreson