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Allende's lively retelling of the Zorro legend reads as effortlessly as
the hero himself might slice his trademark "Z" on the wall with a flash of
his sword.Born in southern California late in the eighteenth
century, Zorro is a child of two worlds. Diego de la Vega's(Zorro)
father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner; his
mother, a Shoshone warrior. Diego learns from his maternal grandmother,
White Owl, the ways of her tribe while receiving from his father lessons
in the art of fencing and in cattle branding. It is here, during Diego's
childhood, filled with mischief and adventure, that he witnesses the
brutal injustices dealt Native Americans by European settlers and first
feels the inner conflict of his heritage.
At the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Barcelona for a European
education. In a country chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule,
Diego follows the example of his celebrated fencing master and joins La
Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the
powerless and the poor. With this tumultuous period as a backdrop, Diego
falls in love, saves the persecuted, and confronts for the first time a
great rival who emerges from the world of privilege.
Between California and Barcelona, the New World and the Old, the
persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born, and the legend begins.
After many adventures -- duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at
sea, and impossible rescues -- Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to
America to reclaim the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice
for all who cannot fight for it themselves.
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