Overview
¿Quién no conoce al Zorro, el astuto y travieso enmascarado? Lo que no sabíamos — de cómo surgió el héroe — se resuelve en estas páginas, que nos revelan el misterio de su doble personalidad. Aquí reencontramos a su amigo Bernardo, su corcel, Tornado, su prodigioso látigo, la Z con que firma sus hazañas y mucho más.
Nacido en 1795 en la California hispana, Diego de la Vega está atrapado entre dos mundos. Su padre es un heroico militar convertido en un próspero hacendado, su madre es una valiente guerrera indígena y su abuela materna es la sabia chamán de su tribu. Del primero, Diego aprende las virtudes de un hidalgo, desde esgrima hasta el arte de hacerse obedecer, mientras su madre y su abuela lo inician en las tradiciones indígenas y el conocimiento de la naturaleza y la magia. Junto a su inseparable amigo Bernardo, vive aventuras en la niñez y se da cuenta de las injusticias que soportan los indios a mano de los colonos europeos.
Diego se hace hombre en Barcelona, donde su padre lo manda a estudiar justamente cuando España, ocupada por las tropas de Napoleón, soporta una cruenta guerra. Le toca de todo, desde duelos a muerte hasta enamorarse a primera vista, enrolarse en una sociedad secreta, huir con una tribu de gitanos, ser secuestrado por piratas y, sobre todo, enfrentarse al hombre que habrá de ser su peor enemigo. Por último regresa a California a reclamar la hacienda donde nació e impartir justicia, luchando por los indefensos. Así, entre el Viejo y el Nuevo Mundo se forma el carácter del más legendario y romántico de los héroes.
Synopsis
A swashbuckling adventure story that reveals for the first time how Diego de la Vega became the masked man we all know so well
Born in southern California late in the 18th century, he is a child of two worlds. Diego de la Vega's father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner; his mother, a Shoshone warrior. Diego learns from his maternal grandmother the ways of her tribe while receiving from his father lessons in the art of fencing. It is here, during Diego's childhood, that he witnesses the brutal injustices dealt Native Americans and first feels the inner conflict of his heritage.
Sent to Barcelona for a European education, Diego joins "La Justicia," a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor.
Between California and Barcelona, the persona of Zorro is formed, a great hero is born and the legend begins. After many adventures, 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.
Performed by Blair Brown
The Washington Post - Craig Nova
It is not possible to sum up the surprises, rescues from prisons, flirtations (between Zorro's true love and, for example, a pirate), but the book has plenty of what Hollywood would call non-stop action, and this is told with a pleasure so keen on the author's part that it's difficult not to be swept up in it.
Editorials
Craig Nova
It is not possible to sum up the surprises, rescues from prisons, flirtations (between Zorro's true love and, for example, a pirate), but the book has plenty of what Hollywood would call non-stop action, and this is told with a pleasure so keen on the author's part that it's difficult not to be swept up in it.— The Washington Post
Library Journal
Allende's retelling of Zorro displays her essential belief that the fabric of the story-the making of the man-is as important as the actions. Born to an aristocratic Spanish father and a tamed Shoshone warrior in 18th-century California, Diego de la Vega learns the lessons of injustice early. His mother's Indian blood and the violence perpetrated against the Native Americans by European settlers ignite a slow-burning fire in Diego. When Diego is sent to Barcelona with his "milk" brother Bernardo to be educated in the ways of his forebears, he studies with a fencing master and joins an underground resistance group, where Zorro the romantic revolutionary is truly forged. Allende's Zorro is not quite the violent, swashbuckling rogue that Johnston McCulley created in his serial potboilers, but this Zorro doesn't have to be for his character to be compelling. One does long for a little more swordplay, but Diego's crisis of identity, his relationship with Bernardo, and his love for a woman he cannot have make for enthralling reading. Allende (Daughter of Fortune) is a beguiling storyteller, and Zorro provides a rich palate for her customary embellishments. Recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 1/05.]-Misha Stone, Seattle P.L. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
A graceful imagining of the saber-wielding, justice-dispensing freedom fighter of yore. Children of the '50s may happily remember Guy Williams's TV portrayal of the legendary Zorro, who carved his signature initial into his enemies' flesh with the point of his sword and kept the entire Spanish army in Alta California busily searching for him. Latter-day Californian Allende (Kingdom of the Golden Dragon, 2004, etc.) provides a backstory that brims with modern concerns: In her hands, Zorro is an ever-so-slightly tormented revolutionary whose sense of justice comes from the accident of his birth. The child of a Spanish officer and a Shoshone Indian woman, Diego de la Vega grows up with a profound knowledge of the injustices wrought by Europeans on California's native peoples. He takes his vulpine identity-zorro is Spanish for "fox"-early on, after a fox delivers him from danger; says his grandmother, helpfully, "That zorro is your totemic animal, your spiritual guide. . . . You must cultivate its skill, its cleverness, its intelligence." He does, reaching adolescence "with no great vices or virtues, except for a disproportionate love of justice, though whether that is a vice or a virtue, I am not sure." A Rousseauian child of nature, de la Vega travels to Spain to acquire a continental education. Becoming radicalized in the bargain, he defies the country's Napoleonic rulers and joins an underground alliance to battle them, then takes the fight back to America. But first de la Vega must endure being shanghaied by pirates, who, neatly enough, haul him before the legendary uber-pirate Jean Lafitte for a parlay. He acquires yet more education in the bayous, then makes for California once more tovisit mayhem on corrupt officialdom on behalf of truth, justice and the Spanish way of life. Allende's tale risks but resists descending into melodrama at every turn. The up-to-date, even postmodern ending makes for a nice touch, too, and will gladden the heart of anyone ready in his or her heart to carve a few Zs into the bad guys.Houston Chronicle
"One of those rare and perfect matches of subject and author... Sinfully entertaining ... Serious fiction."Chicago Tribune
"Lively and fascinating."USA Today
"Wonderfully crafted . . . Allende gives Zorro the feel of a folk or fairy tale."Austin American-Statesman
"A tale of adventure, history and romance, just in time for long reads on summer afternoons."Los Angeles Times
"Allende’s discreetly subversive talent really shows . . . You turn the pages, cheering on the masked man."Miami Herald
"Zorro is great fun . . . A thrilling journey into a world in which cultures clash as often as swords."People
“Equal parts adventure, historical novel and family saga, Zorro is a moving portrait of a hero who is heartbreakingly human.”