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 eighteenth 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, 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.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Allende's latest page-turner explodes with vivid characterization and high-speed storytelling.
Booklist - Brad Hooper
Starred Review. Allende's mesmerizing narrative voice never loses timbre or flags in either tension or entertainment value. To describe her as a clever novelist is to signify that she is both inventive and intelligent.
Library Journal - Misha Stone
Allende is a beguiling storyteller, and Zorro provides a rich palate for her customary embellishments. Recommended for all public libraries.
Kirkus Reviews
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.
San Antonio Express-News Zorro reads like classic 19th-century literature . . . Remarkably, Diego is no cardboard hero checked out from central casting; Allende has skillfully rounded his corners, nuanced him and breathed life into him . . . Allende's vivid reimagining of the Zorro legend will make you want to pick up a sword and start slashing your initials into the nearest available bad guy. This rollicking adventure yarn is that much fun, chock-full of romance and heroism, a swashbuckling read . . . More old-fashioned, rip-roaring storytelling than you can shake a sword at.
Houston Chronicle
One of those rare and perfect matches of subject and author... Sinfully entertaining ... Serious fiction.
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.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Brielle Exciting!!!! I really loved this book!! It was a really good mix of adventure, romance, and humor, with enough history for it to qualify as historical fiction (so it works for school). I loved it!!! I definitely recommend it!!!
Rated of 5
by David Brings together most Zorro ideas Like Robin Hood, Zorro is a story that almost everyone knows, but few have read. The original book by Johnston McCulley is out of print and available in very few libraries. The Mark of Zorro 1920 with Douglas Fairbanks is very true to the book.... Read More
War, natural disaster, reckless gods and the recognition of impermanence in the world are just some of the threads that AS Byatt weaves into this most timely of books. Linguistically stunning and imaginatively abundant, this is a landmark.
A beguiling, imaginative, inspiring story about the bigness of being alive as an individual, as a member of a tribe, and as a participant in history, exploring how we use storytelling to survive and shape our own truths.
Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants, Margaret Powell's classic memoir of her time in service is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.
Vivid, daring, and unforgettable, The Printmaker's Daughter shines fresh light on art, loyalty, and the tender and indelible bond between a father and daughter.
I read The Healing in two sittings it is a fascinating story of plantation life at the beginning of the Civil War. Granada, a slave newborn child...
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The Uncommon Reader is a novella by novelist and playwright, Alan Bennett. The story starts with the Queen coming across the mobile library van...
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Arizona bills Amazon for $53 million in uncollected sales tax(Feb 06 2012) The ongoing sales tax battle between many US states and large online retailers, most notably Amazon, continues with a thrust from Arizona which, last week,...
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Amazon rumored to be opening bricks and mortar stores(Feb 03 2012) There are mumblings in the blogosphere that Amazon is to open bricks and mortar stores. Launch.it offers four possible scenarios:
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by Brielle
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by David
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