STEPS UNDER WATER
by Alicia Kozameh
Steps Under Water ($35.00, paper $12.95; Nov. 1996; 161 pp.; 0- 520-20387-9, paper 0-520-20388-7): First US appearance of an Argentine novel, originally published in 1987, which interweaves letters, diary entries, and narrative to detail the persecutions of leftist revolutionaries during their country's notorious ``dirty war'' of the 1970s. Both the material and the tone of moral indignation are familiar, but Kozameh's skillful and obviously deeply felt blending of hair-raising narrative with thoughtful moral reflection keeps the reader off balance and in suspense. One of the best fictional monuments to ``the disappeared,'' and a memorable characterization of its central figure—a courageous heroine who is unquestionably an autobiographical figure.