Zorro: A Novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende reimagines the youth of Diego de la Vega, the boy who would become El Zorro. She takes a well-known figure with a lot of baggage--from Johnston McCulley's first pulp novels in the 1920's to Antonio Banderas's film incarnation in 1998, the figure of Zorro has definitely been played out--and does something new with him. By stripping the masked crusader of his amalgamated trappings, she returns him to human form and asks the most important question we can ask of ourselves or of any larger-than-life figure: how did he get to be this way? Diego is a boy of two worlds, born of a Spanish conquistador and a Shoshone warrior, destined to spend his life bouncing back and forth between these two most fundamental parts of himself. Aided by his "milk-brother" Bernardo, he finds his way through Native American vision quests, journeys across the ocean, and aristocratic Spanish society.
Allende is a wonderful crafter of relationships--they are my favorite part of her stories. With a magical means of description characteristic of many Latin American writers, Allende's every line speaks not only of the wide overarching qualities of the character, but also of the day-to-day, the magic in the ordinary. For example, Allende's idea behind the mask is that Diego de la Vega has been unfortunately blessed with large ears and the mask serves as a way to strip that embarrassment from his world--in addition to hiding his face and becoming something else. The smallest details come to light in the most beautiful ways in this novel, with Allende as the master of all.
Zorro is a novel about the creation of an identity, and, as with most identities, it doesn't start with the eponymous hero. Instead, the narrator takes us back to the foundation of that hero: namely, his parents. From the very first page, the narrator is a large part of the story and makes no effort to separate herself, but it is not until the very last chapter that she reveals herself to the reader. The idea of placing this story within the frame of a personal recounting lends no air of mystery to this mysterious figure of Zorro. On the contrary, it breaks him down and makes him human, getting at the kernel of Truth with a capital "T" that Allende seems to be trying to find with her tale.
"Zorro is not a magical character. He is not like Superman, Spiderman, or so many other fantastic action heroes. He is a human being, a man who loves life, who is willing to take risks to defend the underdog, and who is brave, funny, and romantic. Maybe his appeal is that we can all become Zorro given the right circumstances. We can all have courage and live life to its fullest. Just give us a mask, a cape, and a sword!" -Isabel Allende, in her About the Book interview at the end of Zorro.
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