# The Fencing Master
**The Fencing Master** (Spanish: *El maestro de esgrima*) is a historical mystery novel by the Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte, first published in 1988 and translated into English by Margaret Jull Costa in 1999.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/perez-reverte-arturo-1951) Set in Madrid in 1868, it follows the aging fencing master Don Jaime Astarloa, whose quiet life teaching a fading art is disrupted when a mysterious woman asks him to teach her a secret, lethal sword thrust, drawing him into murder and political intrigue on the eve of revolution.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13) • [3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-100181-1) It was the fourth of Pérez-Reverte's novels to appear in English, after *The Flanders Panel*, *[The Club Dumas](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-club-dumas)*, and *The Seville Communion*.[4](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/950714.The_Fencing_Master)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original publication | *El maestro de esgrima*, 1988; English translation by Margaret Jull Costa, 1999[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/perez-reverte-arturo-1951) |
| Setting | Madrid, 1868, as Queen Isabella II loses her grip on power and revolution brews[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13) |
| Protagonist | Don Jaime Astarloa, an aging fencing master teaching Madrid's nobility while planning a treatise on "the unstoppable thrust"[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13) |
| Inciting figure | Adela de Otero, who offers double his usual fee to learn a famously difficult sword thrust[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-100181-1) |
| Film adaptation | *El maestro de esgrima* (1992), directed by Pedro Olea, starring Omero Antonutti and Assumpta Serna[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0104788/credits/) |
| Film honors | 3 Goya awards from 11 nominations at the 7th Goya Awards (1993)[6](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-maestro-de-esgrima/) |
| Reader rating | About 3.80 out of 5 from more than 12,000 Goodreads ratings[4](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/950714.The_Fencing_Master) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
Don Jaime Astarloa is a master fencer of the old school who prides himself on the precision, dignity, and honor of his art, and whose obsession is to perfect the irresistible sword thrust.[7](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1254489.The_Fencing_Master) Kirkus describes him as supporting himself by teaching his art to Madrid's nobility while planning a treatise on "the unstoppable thrust," to be written once he has developed and mastered that ultimate skill.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13) His few friends pass their days in cafes discussing plots at court.[7](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1254489.The_Fencing_Master)
The quiet routine breaks when a beautiful young woman calling herself Adela de Otero arrives, offering double his usual fee to learn a secret, famously difficult thrust.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-100181-1) Don Jaime at first refuses to take a woman as a student, but her intricate knowledge of fencing wins him over, and she proves an expert fencer, gifted, disciplined, and determined.[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-100181-1) A murder with circumstances pointing to Adela, a mutilated corpse dredged from a river, a police chief, and a luckless journalist then draw Don Jaime into a chain of intrigue whose developments are keyed to fencing moves and terms such as "The Short Lunge" and "Glissade."[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13)
The plot's resolution runs as follows: a client gives Jaime papers tying influential men to political betrayals and then dies by a fencing weapon; Jaime conceals the documents and discovers that a corpse taken for Adela is in fact her slain servant; the journalist Cárceles seizes the papers, undergoes torture, and dies before he can reveal what they mean; Adela turns up alive and admits she committed murder to shield her patron, the banker Bruno Cazorla; when she asks for the remaining letter and Jaime will not hand it over, he dispatches her in a duel with a counterthrust.[8](https://sobrief.com/books/the-fencing-master)
## Themes and historical setting
The novel is set against the decline of the Bourbon queen Isabella II, whose hold on the throne grows shaky as anti-royalist and revolutionary groups jostle for advantage in 1868.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13) Don Jaime is depicted as an anomaly, an old-fashioned figure out of place in an age of gunpowder and six-shooters.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-05-bk-7036-story.html) Pérez-Reverte told the Los Angeles Times in 1999 that fencing possesses "a closeness, an awareness of one's mortality, that is lost in today's world," and said of his character, "He is a man for whom the word 'honor' still means something."[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-05-bk-7036-story.html) A line the novel gives Don Jaime, confronted with fencing's obsolescence in warfare, runs: "The day that the last fencing master dies will be the day when all that is noble and honorable about the ancient battle between man and man goes down with him into the grave."[4](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/950714.The_Fencing_Master)
## Reception
The book holds a rating of about 3.80 out of 5 from more than 12,000 ratings on [Goodreads](https://www.edgepedia.org/goodreads).[4](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/950714.The_Fencing_Master) Kirkus called it "a vivid picture of an unfamiliar culture" and "high, sophisticated entertainment," while judging it not quite equal to Pérez-Reverte's very best.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13) Publishers Weekly praised the author's "lushly atmospheric suspense" and prose that is "as spellbinding in the fencing gallery as it is in the arcane realm of honor and loyalty that shapes Don Jaime's world."[3](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-100181-1) A review aggregator's summary notes that many readers praised the evocative portrayal of 19th-century Madrid and the character of Don Jaime, while some found the plot predictable and the pacing slow.[8](https://sobrief.com/books/the-fencing-master)
## 1992 film adaptation
The novel was adapted as *El maestro de esgrima* (*The Fencing Master*), a 1992 Spanish film directed by Pedro Olea, with a screenplay by Antonio Larreta, Pedro Olea, Francisco Prada, and Pérez-Reverte himself.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0104788/credits/) Omero Antonutti played Astarloa, Assumpta Serna played Adela, and [Joaquim de Almeida](https://www.edgepedia.org/joaquim-de-almeida) played Luis de Ayala.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0104788/credits/) The film was released theatrically in Spain on 18 September 1992, drew 230,636 admissions and a gross of 563,623.21 euros, and opened the 40th San Sebastián Film Festival out of competition.[10](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=11391) • [11](https://elpais.com/diario/1992/09/18/cultura/716767211_850215.html)
At the 7th [Goya Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/goya-awards) the film received 11 nominations and won 3: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score (José Nieto), and Best Costume Design (Javier Artiñano).[6](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-maestro-de-esgrima/) Time Out's review found that the adaptation "abruptly changes tack" from a solemn register into "a lively old-fashioned melodrama," with Serna making "a fine foil for Antonutti's crafty performance."[12](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-fencing-master) A doctoral study of Pérez-Reverte's film adaptations records that *El maestro de esgrima* stands out among them, obtaining considerable critical and public success, eleven Goya nominations, and distribution in nearly the whole world.[13](https://repositori-api.upf.edu/api/core/bitstreams/77be5904-e68a-4fea-9aef-540b259919c4/content)
## Other works of the same title
The title also belongs to an earlier novel by the French writer [Alexandre Dumas](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexandre-dumas), translated by Alfred Richard Allinson. According to an anecdote Dumas related about his travels in Russia, the Czarina, wife of Czar Nicholas, had the book read aloud to her, and the Czar identified it as "the last book I have prohibited"; despite the prohibition it became popular enough that when Dumas visited the fair at Nijni Novgorod in 1858, handkerchiefs printed with scenes from the book were offered for sale.[14](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252423.The_Fencing_Master)
## References
1. [Pérez-Reverte, Arturo 1951–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/perez-reverte-arturo-1951)
2. [The Fencing Master, Kirkus Reviews (book review)](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/arturo-perez-reverte/the-fencing-master/?page=13)
3. [The Fencing Master, Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-15-100181-1)
4. [The Fencing Master, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/950714.The_Fencing_Master)
5. [The Fencing Master (1992), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0104788/credits/)
6. [El maestro de esgrima, Premios Goya](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/el-maestro-de-esgrima/)
7. [The Fencing Master, Goodreads (edition with synopsis)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1254489.The_Fencing_Master)
8. [The Fencing Master: Summary, Audio, Analysis, SoBrief](https://sobrief.com/books/the-fencing-master)
9. [The Writing Life: A Talk With..., Los Angeles Times, 5 September 1999](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-05-bk-7036-story.html)
10. [Maestro de Esgrima, El, ICAA Film Database](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=11391)
11. [Pedro Olea: "Mi película es un 'Instinto básico' del siglo XIX", El País, 18 September 1992](https://elpais.com/diario/1992/09/18/cultura/716767211_850215.html)
12. [The Fencing Master (1992), Time Out film review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-fencing-master)
13. [Doctoral thesis on Pérez-Reverte film adaptations, Universitat Pompeu Fabra](https://repositori-api.upf.edu/api/core/bitstreams/77be5904-e68a-4fea-9aef-540b259919c4/content)
14. [The Fencing Master by Alexandre Dumas, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252423.The_Fencing_Master)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1990s films › Thrillers › Released 1990 to 1995*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license