The novel chronicles Diego's upbringing as well as the origins of his Zorro alter ego. Its subject is the pulp hero Diego de la Vega, better known as El Zorro (The Fox), who was featured in an early 20th-century novel.Īllende's story is split into six parts, each part dealing with one stage of Diego de la Vega's life, with the last part serving as the epilogue. Spanning the globe from California to Barcelona-the New World and the Old- Zorro celebrates the birth of a great hero and legend.Zorro is a 2005 novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende.

Zorro, returns to America to reclaim the hacienda where he was raised and to seek justice for all who cannot fight for it themselves. After many adventures-duels at dawn, fierce battles with pirates at sea, and daring rescues-Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. With this tumultuous period as a backdrop, Diego falls in love, saves the persecuted, and confronts a great rival who emerges from the world of privilege. Spain is chafing under the corruption of Napoleonic rule, and Diego, following the example of his celebrated fencing master, joins La Justicia, a secret underground resistance movement devoted to helping the powerless and the poor. As a child he also witnesses the brutal injustices dealt Native Americans by European settlers and begins to feel the inner conflict of his dual heritage.Īt the age of sixteen, Diego is sent to Barcelona to be educated. From his father, Diego receives lessons in the art of fencing and in cattle branding from his maternal grandmother, White Owl, he learns the ways of her tribe. His father is an aristocratic Spanish military man turned landowner, his mother a Shoshone warrior. Int'l Women's Conference - México, 2013Ī swashbuckling adventure story, Zorro reveals the history behind the legendary masked man.īorn in Southern California in the late eighteenth century, Diego de la Vega is a child of two worlds.Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards Ceremony, 2017.

Zorro by Isabel Allende