Like Robin Hood, Zorro is a story that almost everyone knows, but few have read. The original book by Johnston McCulley is out of print and available in very few libraries. The Mark of Zorro 1920 with Douglas Fairbanks is very true to the book. Zorro, and especially Bernardo his Indian companion, have come a very long way from the original master/servant relationship written in 1919 to Allende's making them inseparable blood brothers in 2005. I don't know if her changes were to modernize the story for today's audience, or a social agenda, or just a device to move the story along. It is not to make it a prettier story. Allende's book adds a lot more ugliness to the story than McCulley's whippings and stolen kiss.

I give Allende high marks for her clever plot twists and reasoning concerning the development of the Zorro character and her research. I reduce her marks somewhat because of the rambling style and then rush to the end. It would have made an excellent draft, but as it was published as is, it is merely good.