"Zorro" by Isabel Allende

This could more properly have been titled "The Origins of Zorro"; it is a fine adventure story, and in this retelling has considerable psychological depth. Deep, too, is the sorrow flowing from some of the clearly-told depredations in the story, like the rape and murder of Bernardo's mother - the event which marks the onset of his lifelong mute nature. This book does have a fun and interesting run-in between Don Diego and the pirate Jean Laffitte.

I wasn't sure what I expected when I opened this up. What I got was a brightly-told, quickly-paced, realistic telling of one our favorite legends.