California, 1790: an adventure begins in a fascinating and turbulent time, with captivating characters and indomitable spirits, and a man with a romantic heart and a firm temperament named... Zorro. Isabel Allende, author of such international bestsellers as The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Paula, and City of Beasts, uses her literary talent to tell the story of the greatest and most famous hero of all time. Zorro: The Legend Begins is a unique adventure that will enchant readers of all generations. The author revives the figure of the masked knight and, with irony and sensitivity, creates a character superior to the legend itself. Adventurous, passionate, intrepid, and playful. This is the journey of Zorro. And this is the chronicle of an extraordinary life in exceptional times: that of a nobleman... stripped of his mask. A story that begins in 1790, in the lands of Alta California, when a young Spanish captain falls in love with a rebellious Indian woman. Zorro is a portrait of flesh-and-blood characters, with virtues and weaknesses, sensitive and impetuous, who draw us along on their adventures through a vibrant era. With her usual mastery, Isabel Allende reveals the simple life of the Spanish missions in California in the early 19th century and the hustle and bustle of the streets of Barcelona, occupied by Napoleonic troops in the midst of the War of Independence; the initiation rites of indigenous tribes and the mysteries of access to a European secret society; the spirituality of a code of honor without borders and the contradictions of the human soul... Zorro: The Legend Begins, by Isabel Allende, is an adventure like those of old.