SABRIYA

Sabriya ($29.95; paper $12.95; May 13, 1997; 248 pp.; 1-56656-219-8; paper 1-56656-254-6): Syria in the 1920s is the focus of this accomplished 1980 novel, which takes the form of a journal left behind after her suicide by its eponymous protagonist. A passionate adherent of nationalist agitation against her country's French colonial oppressors, Sabriya finds that her yearnings for political freedom are no more attainable than are love and marriage—the underground ``war'' that claims her husband-to-be proves no crueler than the stern patriarchy that demands her devotion to the needs of her aging parents. A bleak, painfully convincing story, narrated with admirable economy and restraint.