Zorro by Isabel Allende

Unlike other "Zorro-themed" books that focus on the legend's adult years; Allende, encouraged by the owners of the Zorro franchise, instead sought to explain the character's younger years as he grew up in Alta California, then a Spanish colony, and was educated in Spain. It is the story of how he created his identity.

In true Allende form, the novel weaves together realistic fiction and a sort of magical/spiritual undertone with both elements being necessary to push the plot along. You do have to suspend disbelief a bit in her novels; oftentimes fate, Indian ideas of magic and communication, and other elements often seem to be sort of foreign to the typical American reader. Still, I think it is wonderful, particularly for her novels, often set in South America or the western U.S., because it seems to better capture the indigenous Indian beliefs of both areas. I really respect Allende simply because she doesn't completely disregard these beliefs.

Also, I think that Allende successfully tackles a lot of the issues of Spanish colonization in Alta California; she deals with the harsh treatment of the Native Americans and the villainous character of the wealthy Spaniard who comes to Alta California as a means to increase his own wealth by enslaving the native populations. The time this is set was not a pleasant time; Napoleon is interfering in Spanish politics, and after the return of the Spanish monarchy, the Inquisition returns as a means of stomping out the liberal ideas that the French introduced into mainland Europe. Very few things are black-and-white in this time period. Neither side of any struggle is perfect, and I think Allende does a good job of showing this--the Native Americans undertake their own mission early on in the novel to capture and kill Christian converts in the mission and--but still maintaining the reader's sympathy where the reader's sympathies should be.

That being said, I don't know that this was Allende's best work. The House of the Spirits and Of Love and Shadows seem to have a much more fluid writing style. I'm not sure if this difference was purposeful, considering which character she chooses to act as the narrator (it's not revealed until the last chapter, so I'm not going to spoil it for you!), but it was not the lovely phrasing, and long, descriptive sentences of Allende's other works. And, quite honestly, I missed it. Still, I think she does a fantastic job showing the rising star of Diego de la Vega as he grows, learns, and becomes the legend that is Zorro. Still, she shows his character as being flawed, not a perfect hero at every time; often, he is unaware of the injustices around him until something forces him to take notice. She also paints his character as being a sort of "two-in-one" deal; Diego and Zorro are two very different kinds of people wrapped up into one person. Part of this is intentional on Diego's part as a means of preventing others from discovering that he is Zorro, but I think part of it is that Diego cannot, with his wealthy upbringing, quite come to terms with the missions he undertakes as Zorro.

In general, I think that this was a fantastic novel, and, had I not read other Allende novels, would have definitely been one of my favorites. Yet, it didn't quite match my expectations considering the other novels.

Rating: 9/10

Some other reviews:
Melissa at Book Nut


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