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The Boy at the Gate
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Danny Ellis
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
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Publisher's summary
"This is an incredibly brave book: shocking, and sometimes, despite everything, shockingly hilarious."
–Sara Gruen, best-selling author of Water for Elephants
Danny Ellis is a survivor, strong and resilient. An acclaimed singer/songwriter, he is proud of the way he handled his difficult past: poverty in the 1950s Dublin slums and the brutality of the Artane Industrial School. He felt as though he had safely disposed of it all, until one night, while writing the powerful song that would launch his highly-praised album 800 Voices ("A searing testament." –Irish Times), Danny's past crept back to haunt him. Confronted by forgotten memories of betrayal and abandonment, he was stunned to discover that his eight-year-old self was still trapped in a world he thought he had left behind.
Although unnerved by his experience, Danny begins an arduous journey that leads him back to the streets of Dublin, the tenement slums, and, ultimately, the malice and mischief of the Artane playground. What he discovers with each twist and turn of his odyssey will forever change his life.
Elegantly written, this is a brutally honest, often harrowing, depiction of a young boy's struggle to survive orphanage life. It stands as an inspiring testament to the healing power of music and love.
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Editorial reviews
It is always a pleasure when an author can effectively perform his or her own audiobook. No one knows the material in the memoir The Boy at the Gate better than the Irish musician Danny Ellis, who published this transfixing story of suffering and artistic evolution in 2012. Not only does Ellis perform his own lovely prose in his alluring Dublin accent, but he also sings and plays guitar to give life to the lyrics interspersed throughout the memoir. The autobiography gives the impression of being a long song penned by a sensitive and resilient artist. An orphan who found transcendent expression both though literature and in his album 800 Voices, Ellis is an inspiration.
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- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1964, Maggie wakes to find herself in a mental asylum, with no idea who she is or how she got there. Remnants of memories swirl in her mind - a familiar song, a storm, a moment of violence. Slowly, she begins to piece together the past and the events which brought her to this point.
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Disappointing
- By Anonymous User on 01-18-22
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Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
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Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
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Gypsy Boy
- By: Mikey Walsh
- Narrated by: Mikey Walsh
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Mikey's family were Gypsies. They live in a closed community and little is known about their way of life. As he didn't go to school, the caravan became his world. But although Mikey inherited a vibrant culture, his family had a dark hidden history. Eventually Mikey was forced to make a decision – to stay and keep secrets, or escape and find somewhere to belong.
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Beaten up
- By Bel on 06-10-21
By: Mikey Walsh
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The Invisible Wall
- A Love Story That Broke Barriers
- By: Harry Bernstein
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This enchanting true story, written when the author was 93, is a moving tale of working-class life, the social divide, and forbidden love on the eve of the first World War. The narrow street on which Harry grew up appeared identical to countless other working-class English neighborhoods, except for the invisible wall that ran down the center of the street, dividing the Jewish families on one side from the Christians on the other.
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A Powerful Tale
- By Sara on 11-29-13
By: Harry Bernstein
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One for Sorrow
- A Ghost Story
- By: Mary Downing Hahn
- Narrated by: Madeleine Lambert
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Against the ominous backdrop of the influenza epidemic of 1918, Elsie, the class tattletale, liar, and thief, claims the new girl at school, Annie, as her best friend. But Annie soon makes other friends as well and finds herself joining them in teasing and tormenting Elsie, who later succumbs to the epidemic and dies. Elsie is not absent from school long, though. She soon returns there as a ghost, ready to reclaim Annie's friendship and to punish all the girls who bullied her.
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Awesome Story!
- By Danielle on 12-09-18
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The Bone Clocks
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Following a scalding row with her mother, 15-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: A sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as "the radio people," Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
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Not Short Listed, This Time
- By Mel on 09-23-14
By: David Mitchell
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Lights Out Liverpool
- By: Maureen Lee
- Narrated by: Maggie Ollerenshaw
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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As Britain stands alone against a monstrous enemy, the inhabitants of Pearl Street face hardship and heartbreak with courage and humour. The war touches each of them in a different way: for Annie Poulson, a widow, it means never-ending worry when her twin boys are called up and sent to France; Sheila Reilly's husband, Cal, faces the terror of U-Boat attacks; Eileen Costello is liberated from a bitter, loveless marriage when her husband is sent to Egypt.
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Wonderful
- By Tansy Adderley on 10-03-18
By: Maureen Lee
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Call the Midwife
- A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times
- By: Jennifer Worth
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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At the age of 22, Jennifer Worth left her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in postwar London’s East End slums. The colorful characters she met while delivering babies all over London - from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lived to the woman with 24 children who couldn't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side - illuminate a fascinating time in history.
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The best book I've listened to this year
- By Richard on 06-12-13
By: Jennifer Worth
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An Orphan in the Snow
- By: Molly Green
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Liverpool, 1941. Troubled by a dark family history and the pain of seeing her country torn apart by war, young June Lavender finds new hope when she takes a job at the Dr Barnardo's children's home. There she meets Lizzie McRae, a little girl who is the spitting image of June's sister, who died tragically years before. Against the matron's wishes, the two girls form an unexpected bond as June tries to get the traumatised orphan to speak.
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The title doesn't fit the story
- By mrsmlbj on 11-23-22
By: Molly Green
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Trumpet
- By: Jackie Kay
- Narrated by: Cathleen McCarron
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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The death of legendary jazz trumpeter Joss Moody exposes an extraordinary secret. Unbeknown to all but his wife Millie, Joss was a woman living as a man. The discovery is most devastating for their adopted son, Colman, whose bewildered fury brings the press to the doorstep and sends his grieving mother to the sanctuary of a remote Scottish village. Winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize, Trumpet by Jackie Kay is a starkly beautiful modern classic about the lengths to which people will go for love.
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Beautiful and True
- By Colin on 05-24-17
By: Jackie Kay
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Stepping on the Cracks
- By: Mary Downing Hahn
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret and her best friend Elizabeth both have brothers fighting the war against Hitler and, like everyone else they know, they are filled with feelings of patriotism. But the girls are also involved in their own personal war at home. Gordy Smith, the worst bully in the sixth grade, teases and torments them, and Margaret is scared to death of him. But when Gordy and his pals Toad and Doug grow bolder than ever, Margaret and Elizabeth come up with a daring plan to get even. That’s when the girls discover a shocking secret about Gordy.
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awesome
- By Brad on 10-15-19
What listeners say about The Boy at the Gate
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Laurie
- 10-16-13
Wonderful Masterpiece!
Danny's story is one of great courage, heartbreak, cunning, playful mischief, resilience, forgiveness and triumph of spirit. As he reads his own story, the words flow easily and truth rings in every sentence... Danny's kind intelligence, wit, honesty and sense of humor shine in his writing and in the gentle very appealing sound of his voice. This book does not sound like it's being read, but much more like a trusted friend is telling you his story.
And while The Boy at the Gate deals with subject matters that could be quite depressing, it's not a depressing book at all. Danny's uncanny ability to channel the child within and therefore convey the innocence, incredible resilience, fierce sense of justice, along with loads of playfulness and mischief gives the listener/reader a feeling of wholeness and true understanding of what really happened. I believe The Boy at the Gate will go down in history as one of the great stories of all time. In these times where "historical fiction" abounds, and needs embellishing to be compelling and "complete," here is a story that is fantastic, moving, heartfelt and quite funny - and it's ALL TRUE!
I have listened to dozens of audiobooks, and this one is very special and compares to nothing I have heard before. The story is kind of like a Dickens novel, but with a Twain sense of humor, and just add Danny's Irish wry humor and childlike innocence... Plus, during the reading he breaks into excerpts of songs from the cd of music that came before the book and sort of outlines The Boy at the Gate, entitled "800 Voices, My Childhood in an Irish Orphanage." It is a truly wonderful collection of songs.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- shana ratcliff
- 03-09-15
Loved it! I've listened to it 3 times
I enjoyed it immensely! I never realized or could imagine not being able to keep my kids with me! When you have the rather to feel sorry for your situation, just reflect on this book and the people that this happened to and lived through. I feel blessed for having the opportunity to walk a day in this mans shoes! I love the accent too!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amanda
- 11-13-13
AMAZING!!!
Would you listen to The Boy at the Gate again? Why?
Yes! This book is so beautifully written and so full of meaningful content that I would listen again in hopes of catching anything missed the first time.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Danny himself. He is a GREAT storyteller and has quite a story to tell!
Any additional comments?
If you liked Angela's Ashes, then The Boy At The Gate is an absolute MUST read!! I am a HUGE fan of Frank McCourt and never thought anyone would be able to come close to being compared to him. Then I met Danny. Danny's story is heart wrenching and heart warming all at the same time. What an extraordinary man and an extraordinary storyteller! Hearing him tell the story in his own voice is absolutely priceless. I literally laughed and cried at the same time on multiple occasions. I cannot sing the praises of this book high enough. I have suggested it to everyone I know!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mary
- 10-11-13
Sad, overwrought, over produced -
What would have made The Boy at the Gate better?
Music is sad and distracting, story is ridiculously morose. Couldn't get thru first chapter. Really terrible experience.
Would you ever listen to anything by Danny Ellis again?
No.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Danny Ellis?
No one,
What character would you cut from The Boy at the Gate?
Couldn't get thru first chapter - histrionics were impossible to listen to.
Any additional comments?
AVOID unless you are want to be depressed
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