Irini Passi

About the Book

Irini Passi (Peace Be With You) is the first work of this kind to depict the life of a Copt (Christian Egyptian) Dr. Ramses Hanna during and after the Nasser era. It also reveals the tribulations of life in the Coptic Diaspora, in this case, Canada. It is a true depiction of the shock of moving from a country like Egypt to Canada some forty years ago. It is naturally a culture shock, but the physical elements had its own impact on him.

While many novels have been written by immigrants to Canada from the Far East, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, to the best of my knowledge there has never been one from Egypt, let alone about a Copt from Egypt. The inner struggle between his life and beliefs in Egypt, and the sixties western societal beliefs is a major factor in his journey in Canada. The history of the Coptic Church and its deep roots in ancient Egypt's pharaohs' mystic journey is acknowledged in the novel.

Irini Passi, through the eyes of its protagonist, Dr. Ramses Hanna, reveals the plight of the Copts of Egypt living as a minority among a sea of Muslims in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. It takes place during the relatively liberal era of the pre-Nasser years, the stages of Coptic marginalization after Nasser, and the discrimination shown towards Copts during the subsequent regimes.

This novel will appeal to general interest readers in the English-speaking world in North America and overseas.

Egypt is in the news these days, with terrorist attacks targeting Copts as well as tourists in the Sinai Peninsula and elsewhere. While I have been working on this novel over the last four years, many of those attacks have occurred. It seems nothing has changed since I left Egypt four decades ago, and the same rationalizations continue.

About the Author