Week Like Any Other (Trade Pap

The gently satirical title piece of this American debut from the Soviet Union captures the essence of women's tensions about their roles at home and on the job. A happily married mother of two and a committed scientist narrates her daily schedule over the course of one week. It is impossible not to recognize and empathize with the relentless juggling of chores and deadlines in this novella, which could have for working mothers the galvanizing effect of The Feminine Mystique : ``Sunday night is quiet and peaceful. The children play, Dima reads, and I do the laundry and make the supper. I keep repeating to myself: I mustn't forget to sew the hook on the waistband''; ``I've lost seventy-eight days, almost a third of my whole working time, in sick days and certificates. And all because of the children. . . . I don't understand why I feel so awkward, even ashamed. . . . Why? I'm not guilty of anything.'' The other tales also focus on women's experience--a few offer penetrating vignettes of misunderstandings between the sexes; two are lengthier, but parochial, portraits, with less appeal. (Oct.)