Zorro. By Isabel Allende

Completely satisfying. Just the right mix of emotions, just the right balance of historical context and personal drama, just the right length, just the right complexity (for someone who typically reads after a hard day in the office and putting the kids to bed). Couldn't recommend it more strongly.

Don't read on if you like to read in suspense. But if you've read the book, or don't plan to read the book, or trust that I've given away nothing essentially suspenseful, or don't really care about suspense, here are some of my favourite nuggets/ reflections:

- "from the literary point of view, (childhood) has no suspense, children tend to be a little dull. Furthermore, they have no power, adults decide for them." Interesting point. Children are great as subjects, as authentic voices through which to observe the adult world. Think back to To Kill a Mocking Bird. Or the precocious Oskar Schnell in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Or even Richmal Compton's William. Maybe children, or even completely powerless adults, don't really work as the objects of fiction

- I loved the historical context. Spain had been annexed by Napoleon's France. Mexico was a Spanish colony. California was a Mexican territory. New Orleans had been sold by Napoleon to the Americans in the Louisiana land purchase. Britain fought America for Louisiana, and was defeated. Pirates ruled. The stench of the slave trade permeated the Caribbean. The Gypsies are a hunted, haunted European tribe, tenaciously holding onto their Indian roots. The Indians are a hunted, haunted American tribe, tenaciously holding on to their pre-European roots. None of this is hammered home. One picks up all of this casually wandering through the plot

- "Diego was a Gemini". Makes sense. The cultured, dandified, effeminate, patrician: Don Diego de la Vega. The fearless, swashbuckling, dashing, darling of the masses: Zorro. Are all super-heroes Geminis? Clark Kent and Superman. Parker and Spiderman. Bruce Wayne and Batman. Could they be Libras? No. The two sides of the balance are yoked together. Super-hero identities are completely separate. Could they be Pisces? No. Piscean fish swim in opposite directions. Super-hero identities swim together. Had to be Gemini

- Diego does not get his girl: Juliana de Romeu. That had to be. Diego's love was real. Juliana was worthy of his love. It was not their destiny. If Diego had got his girl that would have been the end of the story, he would have become a happy and wealthy ranchero in Alta California. The lost love was essential to Diego remaining forever hungry, forever young, to Diego remaining Zorro

- Juliana de Romeu would have been the perfect girl for Zorro. She is the wrong girl for the Diego de la Vega + Zorro combine. Juliana is about pale skin, cascading curls, beauty, grace, care, perfect taste, dignity under duress. She is all yin. Her man would need to be all yang. Every couple needs a balance of animus and anima

- "We shall soon be saying goodbye, dear readers, since the story ends when the hero returns to where he began, transformed by adventures and by obstacles overcome. This is the norm in epic narratives from the Odyssey to fairy tales, and I shall not be the one to attempt innovation"