On the cover, the "a" in the word "starts" of the title, is replaced with a six-pointed geometric star figure.

"Ballycreggan, Northern Ireland, 1955. Erich Bannon is happy in the small Irish village he has thought of as home since he arrived as a terrified, traumatised seven year old, one of the last Jewish children to escape Berlin in 1939. Now at twenty-three, it feels like all of his friends are drawn to The Promised Land, and he can understand why, but Israel is not for him. One by one, they leave, and Erich is bereft. He wonders if he should just go too, but a chance encounter with an Irish Catholic girl gives him hope for a brighter future." -- Back cover.