His first steps on the road to heroism have been taken.īut a great rival will emerge from the ranks of the cruel oppressors. «He creado un Zorro de corazón romántico y naturaleza divertida. Later, following the example of his fencing master, the young Diego joins a secret movement devoted to helping the powerless. Isabel Allende rescata la figura del héroe, una «mezcla de Robin Hood, Peter Pan y Che Guevara, pero sin tragedias», según palabras de la autora, y, con ironía y humanidad, le da vida más allá de la leyenda. Growing up he witnesses the brutual injustices dealt to Native Americans. Southern California, late 18th century: Diego de la Vega is a child of two worlds, his father an aristocratic Spaniard, his mother a Shoshone warrior. ĭuels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates and impossible rescues - these are the deeds that forged the legend of Zorro. And in his heart burns the fire of injustice.

And with luck, Allende can squeeze as many sequels out of the character as Hollywood has.Īllen Barra writes for Salon, Slate and other publications.Bestselling author Isabel Allende's first adult novel since 'Portrait in Sepia' - beautiful, disturbing and atmospheric.īeneath the mask, there is a man. Initiated into the art of the saber by a Zen-like Jewish master, he learns acrobatic skills and parlor magic from performing gypsies - his costume is the all-black outfit, with cape and caballero hat.įleeing the tyranny of French-occupied Spain, Diego sails for the New World, is abducted by the pirate Jean Lafitte and returns to Old California to introduce the natives to Western enlightenment and the Spanish dons to Indian-style justice.Ī picaresque novel with post-modern flourishes, the sinfully entertaining “Zorro” is serious fiction masked as a swashbuckler. Sent to Spain for a classical education, his innate social consciousness is nourished by early-19th-century radicalism. No, is his reply, “but I plan to do everything in my power to make it so.” “Do you truly believe that life is fair, Senor de la Vega?” he is asked. The result of a volatile union of a liberal Spanish aristocrat and an enigmatic Shoshone Indian who, for love’s sake, “tried to renounce her origins and become a Spanish lady” but “never stopped dreaming in her own language,” Diego is, literally, a noble savage imbued with a romanticist’s sense of justice.

Born in Peru, raised in Chile and in recent years a resident of California, she rooted her story in a re-creation of Latin California and remade Diego de la Vega as the first real All-American hero. (Bob Kane, Batman’s creator, paid homage by having Bruce Wayne’s parents murdered while coming from a theater playing “The Mark of Zorro.”)Īllende reached into this cultural compost heap of pulp fiction, movies and TV and forged a character with a soul and a heritage. Along the way, Zorro was the inspiration for dozens of crime fighters.

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