Ports of Call

Ports of Call (French: Les Échelles du Levant) is a 1991 novel by the French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf. The narrative follows a married couple consisting of a Muslim man and a Jewish woman, Ossyane and Clara, who become separated after World War II. The échelles du Levant were Mediterranean seaports under Ottoman sovereignty where the French had traded from the 16th century with a near monopoly.