Mazywood

Wishes. We all make them, either silently to ourselves or possibly as a breathless whisper as we drop a coin in a fountain. The reason behind them can range from whimsical to deadly serious. And, in the "real world," they are, to quote Douglas Adams, "mostly harmless." In the world of fiction, however, wishes are entirely different.  

In stories, across the entire range of how humans have, do, and will tell them, wishes are warnings. They are cautionary tales used to encourage some behaviors and discourage others. It never goes well for the person making a wish in most stories. There are always complicating factors, whether they are rules regarding what can and can't be wished for (or how the wish is made), unknown costs that are not disclosed prior to the wish being made, or a harshly literal interpretation of the wish that is not at all what the wisher envisioned or wanted when they made their wish. Is it any wonder that the phrase "be careful what you wish for" is so common?

In mid-1920s Florida, Mazelle Washington, a young African American girl, makes a wish for "the best friend ever" at "The Wishing Pool." She wishes for someone who will play with her, love her more than anyone else, keep her safe from anything bad, and, coming from a family of vaudeville performers, with whom she'll have "the best act ever." Shortly after making her wish, Mazelle discovers a remarkable dog. He seems to understand her when she speaks to him and, even when she doesn't tell him, he anticipates what she wants him to do. She names him Scout. Mazelle's family recognizes the potential Scout represents, and it isn't long until Mazelle has a film contract and is making "Our Gang" like short comedies that are wildly successful. The Washingtons move to Hollywood, where Mazelle, along with Scout, becomes a star. A child star. And getting older is a problem for almost everyone in front of the camera in Hollywood.  

In contemporary Hollywood, Johnny Washington, Mazelle's grandson, is a successful film director. His last script has been purchased, and he is just waiting for the necessary "green light" from studio executives to go into pre-production. At the meeting where Johnny expects to be given permission to begin work on the film, the studio execs demand yet another "polish" on the script. Johnny realizes that this is a clear indication that the "green light" may never be given. Feeling hopeless, he agrees to take his family, his wife, and two teenage daughters, up to Mazywood, his grandmother's retreat located in the shadow of Mount Shasta in Northern California. Johnny hasn't been there for decades, and he has no fond memories of the times he visited. But his family has long been asking to make the trip, and he feels that maybe, just maybe, he can make some new, better memories at Mazywood.  

In Mazywood, Tananarive Due combines elements of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, fantasy, and horror. The novel opens in the mid-1920s and takes readers behind the cameras of the silent era. Mazy's career moves from the silents and into Hollywood's "golden age" and beyond, exposing how aging child stars and  African Americans were treated by the Hollywood studio machine, from studio heads and their co-stars to the union workers behind the scenes. Johnny's filmmaking career takes readers to contemporary Hollywood, illustrating how the more things change, the more they stay the same. It is fascinating to see how, after a century, Mazelle and her grandson are fighting some of the same battles in "tinsel town."

Due also examines how we process grief and react to trauma, inflicted both by society and when it comes from those whom we should be able to trust.

Central to all of this is Scout, manifested by a childhood wish, never understood completely, and yet that never stops him from being used and ultimately discarded. Or so it is thought. . .

Mazywood is a compelling and page-turning novel that readers will keep guessing to the very last page.