Book Review – Mazywood by Tananarive Due

Johnny grandson of the famous black actress Mazelle Washington and a filmmaker in his own right brings his family to Mazywood aka Bear Creek Lodge the secluded California mountain lodge she built and left behind as her legacy. He expects to have a quiet weekend with the family relaxing and having fun in the snow instead they discover generations of secrets and a terror that has haunted the family for generations. 

This was great and that is a very small word for a big ol’ book of fantasticness. The is a multigenerational literary thriller and survival horror novel told across two timelines. We follow Mazy from her childhood through specific moments in her life, as an actress with a career spanning the 1920’s to 40’s she was brushing shoulders with Clark Gable, Lena Horne and Hattie McDaniel who have some interesting cameos, through to her death and we also follow Johnny, Mazy’s grandson and his family as they go on holiday at the lodge in the mountains Mazy built. We also learn about the secret wish that is at the heart of the life Mazelle built for her self and the repercussions it had not only on her life but on the life’s of those around her. 

Tananarive Due is a writer like no other. She doesn’t just write a book she writes stories that cross genres, that have language and prose which pull you in and create worlds, characters that are rich and interesting and fully formed, she WRITES EPIC BOOKS BABY !!!

My absolute favourite part of the whole novel is the cast of characters Mazy and Johnny and Johnny’s teenage daughters the characters leap off the page they are so interesting, everyone of them is fully realised and beautifully described and their are some lovely familial parallels that occur through the story with various characters that are a great read. The family drama and the interpersonal dynamics are wildly compelling reading and I loved it. The horror that really shines through is the horror of Mazelle being smart and talented and beautiful and overlooked and abused and taken advantage of. 

An amazing read from a phenomenal writer highly recommend if you love messy family drama that stretches through the ages, family’s that still come together no matter what and winter survival horror. 

Thank you very much to Simon & Schuster Australia and Titan Books for my Gifted copy Mazywood comes out on 22nd of September 2026.