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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.
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