Zorro : A Novel

Author: Isabel Allende

List Price: $25.95 

Pages:400

Publisher: HarperCollins (May 1, 2005)

Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.2

ISBN: 0060778970

Allende's lively retelling of the Zorro legend reads as effortlessly as the hero himself might slice his trademark¹ "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 warrior². Diego learns from his maternal³ grandmother, White Owl⁴, 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 mischief⁵ and adventure, that he witnesses the brutal⁶ injustices⁷ 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 chafing⁸ under the corruption⁹ of Napoleonic rule, Diego follows the example of his celebrated¹⁰ fencing master and joins La Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted¹¹ to helping¹² the powerless and the poor. With this tumultuous period as a backdrop, Diego falls in love, saves the persecuted¹³, 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 -- duels¹⁴ at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and impossible rescues -- Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, returns to America to reclaim¹⁵ the hacienda on which he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves.