BUBBEH

Berman's slight novel, which combines its narrator Sabita's affectionate reminiscence of her nurturing grandmother with a crisp portrayal of Mexico City's Jewish quarter in the 1960s, is given additional depth by Sabita's uncertainty whether to follow the example of her submissive ""bubbeh"" or that of her mother, a confident professional woman. Nicely done, and one guesses that its author--a well-known playwright and screenwriter--may have conceived it as a subject for film.