Priscilla Winfrey is the First Lady of the Seven Seals Baptist Church in Mississippi, where her husband, Sabre Winfrey Jr., serves as reverend. Together, they’ve raised five strong, respectable sons. Or so it seems…

I devoured this novel. The narrative is so propulsive and rich with subtext. How long can we see only what we want to before we’re forced to confront a horrifying truth?

A great novel examining morality, religion vs spirituality, and the benefits and curses of living in close community. Will be recommending Dominion!

Dominion by Addie E. Citchens paints an intriguing but puzzlingly incomplete picture of a religious community’s corruption.

It’s rare that I read a book and think that it needs to be longer. In general, authors tend to be overly verbose and require strict editors to strike out excess material. Dominion feels like an editor went entirely too far in such an endeavor; it’s marketed as a “taut” novel, but reading it is like looking at a photograph that has been inexplicably cropped. The prose itself is strong, and the scenes and characters we do get to witness are intriguing. Citchens is a capable writer. The story follows a pastor’s wife, Priscilla, and a teenage orphan named Diamond in a Mississippi town called Dominion. Priscilla’s husband is a powerful but abusive man, and their many sons grow up with all the privilege of wealth and patriarchy. Priscilla herself struggles with addiction amidst an abusive and isolating marriage. Diamond starts dating Priscilla’s youngest son, Emmanuel “Wonderboy” Winfrey—a golden child with good-looks, good grades, and a supreme talent in athletics and music. But it soon becomes clear that there is something deeply wrong with Wonderboy as he terrorizes the community in the name of his own predatory masculinity, and Diamond and Priscilla get caught in the crossfire due to their closeness with this dangerously charming young man.

Although I enjoyed the experience of reading each individual scene, I could not shake the feeling that several important things were missing. This book needs more buildup, more exposition, more descriptions of setting. The town of Dominion appears to be a very specific place that carries a lot of potential for a setting, but unless you grew up in a similar Mississippi town, you might find yourself adrift as Citchens provides almost no descriptions of place or the community. Additionally, the outline of the plot is promising, but things happen too suddenly and without enough buildup to make them believable or impactful. We only get glimpses of the characters’ backstories that do not provide sufficient understanding for who they are and why they matter. Again, it’s not that Citchens writing isn’t good—the problem is that there needs to be a lot more of it. I continuously found myself asking, “what is the point of this book?” I couldn’t quite grasp the themes Citchens is trying to convey or why she makes the narrative choices she does.

I encourage people who are interested in this book to pick it up even if I didn’t find it as rewarding as I hoped. I could see myself enjoying a future novel by this author if she allows herself the time and the space to develop the story more fully and gets an editor who supports that vision.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Set in small town Mississippi, this follows a wealthy Black family led by the much respected, but ill behaved, reverend of the local church. The youngest of their five sons commits a heinous act and we see the aftermath told through the eyes of his mother and the girl he’s involved with. Tense and twisty with incredible characters, I couldn’t put this one down.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an advanced copy of Dominion by Addie E. Citchens.

Well well well what do we have here? Wait a minute. Hold on. You’re telling me this is a debut novel? That just can’t be true! It’s actually too good to be true, quite literally.

Standing ovation for our author because this is an incredible book. The exploration of identity, gender, systemic racism, and drug abuse are everything I love in my novels so long as the author can successfully pull it off. Dominion did just that.

The cast of characters are relatable, the prose is tangible, and the plotting is something a seasoned author would gawk at.

My sincere thanks to #NetGalley and #Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an advanced copy of Dominion by Addie E. Citchens.

A small town family novel where a priest and his family are the center of the town drama. Secrets and power come to a head and the novel is told from the perspective to the two women who love the men at the center of the drama.

This book made me a little uncomfortable in that it wasn’t speculative fiction. Like Handmaids tale, the misogyny was over the top. Mix it with our White Nationalists and a little Righteous Gemstones and you come up with a book that I admire Citchens for writing.
Reverend Winfrey and his wife Priscilla have everyone drinking the Kool-aid. Wonderboy is on the rise and everything seems perfect. However suddenly a crack appears and now everything is in jeopardy. A bold and gripping book made up of interesting dynamics, but not an easy book.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. These opinions are my own.

this was fine. an interesting dissection of faith vs. organised religion, if a little meandering at times. the characters were nicely fleshed out, but they did lack that extra oomph that i like in my novels.

The way this book escalated at its midway point knotted my stomach with the familiar frustration of patriarchy, the disillusionment of insular religious communities. The heavy burden of mothers and daughters replicated over generations—a theme that follows my own work. The brainwashing and moves of preservation women caught up in these worlds enact, abandoning themselves and each other. Layered with race and class and respectability politics and fears of judgement both earthsjde and beyond. Women who become twisted and angry trying to stitch together the edges of their pain into presentable dresses.

Both women see their misgivings in these situations, but generation and class-comfortability give them different clarity about their roles, feelings, and what they deserve. Diamond, stuck in a perpetual wanting, can see how she’s being manipulated and knows that she deserves more. She can see her trauma from the outside, and that seeing is more than most of the women around her have the capacity for.

Despite the difference, they find temporary alliance over trying to keep these men alive, and then perhaps, find their worth instead. Maybe, the value of their independent freedoms. This book shook me.

Dominion was a taught, high-wire act of a debut novel. The entire time you feel like you're not quite getting the full picture as you're hearing from two very realistic voices, Priscilla and Diamond. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to figure out what was missing and how all these incidents come together.

After the shocking climax, you don't get every question answered, but enough to make it feel like real life. I cannot believe this is the author's first novel because she does things so masterfully: characterization that feels natural not forced, creating a world in Dominion peopled by characters that feel like you might actually meet them, and building tension that made me want to set aside my real life until I was done reading this story.

Dominion is a book that makes you pay attention. I loved it!

This is a story of a church family in 2000 in Dominion, Mississippi, Manny, called Wonderboy by everyone because he's good at everything and admired by everyone, is the youngest son of a preacher and his wife, Priscilla. His adoring girlfriend, although she's never really called that, Diamond, comes from a scattered family and has known mainly loss in her life. Wonderboy is her hope for family and love and permanence. The book is told from Priscilla and Diamond's perspectives, and it's slowly revealed that Wonderboy and his father are not the paragons that the community believes: they're unfaithful, violent, selfish, etc, although it takes a long time before people stop making excuses for them. The plot just gets darker from there.
The story was addictive - the multi povs and slow drips of information kept me reading, and I kept waiting to see who would find out what next. Some readers might want a trigger warning - violence, sexual violence, racial and homophobic slurs, and so on - but it feels in keeping with the characters and setting and is not gratuitous. The book doesn't linger on the misdeeds, it just observes them. Lots of patriarchy to reflect on; I'll probably be thinking about this for a while.
Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc!

4.25 / 5 rounded up

A fantastic debut novel about a religious family in the southern town of Dominion. While the book description focuses on the patriarchs of the story -- Rev. Winfrey and his youngest son, Emanuel -- this story centers two women: Priscilla, the 'First Lady" -- wife of the reverend and mother to five boys including Emanuel (aka Wonderboy); and Diamond, a young girl in Rev's congregation who, in her 17 years, has faced more tragedy than most, perhaps most painfully her abject adoration for Wonderboy.

This book explores power, patriarchy, race, faith, small community and secrets. Everyone is hiding something, and most of them not well: a prominent role in the church bolstered by a pill addiction, the patriarch of a well-respected family with a not-so-secret mistress, a secret box of tokens that is surely evidence, but of what?

This is a tense family saga about the ways in which secrets are made to keep life together but almost always pull everything apart. I look forward to following this author.

Dominion got under my skin. It is a character study unlike anything I've read before. How did he go from the boy weeping over a dog to...this? We get the answers and wow. I also love how we get multiple perspectives of the same event - very successful in highlighting the darkness. I loved this.

As I started reading, I quickly realised the synopsis did not do it justice — it was not what I expected. And how happy I was to uncover its twists and turns.

This is a quick, compelling and engaging read, cleverly written from the POV of two women, each with her own authentic voice.

The ending was unexpected and satisfying. However, I would have liked that the character's change of heart that led to it, was developed a little further, it felt rushed.

For a debut novel, congratulations — I look forward to seeing what more she will share with the world.

Dominion is Addie E. Citchens’ flammable debut novel, written under the writer’s fellowship from Farrar, Straus and Giroux, awarded to new and exciting voices. Set in the small town of Dominion, Mississippi, the novel follows a wealthy Black Baptist family torn between devotion and destruction. Citchens crafts an intimate portrayal of how the patriarchy moulds and folds everyone under its crushing doctrine and alienation in this propulsive story.

The story opens with a secular history of the Seven Seals Baptist Church, and through alternating points of view—mainly Priscilla, the First Lady, and Diamond, a troubled orphan—we piece together the complex dynamics of the Winfrey family. Reverend Sabre Winfrey Jr., beloved minister, father of four and Wonderboy, is largely voiced only through his typewritten sermons—creating an inaccessibility between reader and pastor. Priscilla is the archetypal Southern Belle, with a crooked hip, numbing her discontent with Jack Daniels first and pills second—as their marriage cookie-crumbles. Diamond copes differently, rolling joints in search of an escape that evaporates at each puff. Wonderboy, the prodigal son, is charming, athletic, and complex—and the devil incarnate—confronted with his ambiguous nature and his incapacity to handle his life.

The structure of the novel is interesting, with each chapter opening with a sermon that echoes, questions, or deepens the narrative. Themes of violence, drug abuse, sex, suicide, gender roles, systemic racism and identity recur throughout the story, handled with both nuance and raw intensity. The narrative alternates between Priscilla and Diamond, infrequently injected with unknown narrators who offer a grittier viewpoint. As the story progresses, the reader is introduced to the family and town dynamics. Citchens refrains from overly describing graphic violence—inviting the reader to feel its weight without sensationalism, focusing instead on the psychological and emotional toll it takes on the characters. Much is left for the reader to interpret and notice, although Citchens provides the necessary tools.

Citchens’ competent characterisation creates a multidimensional and relatable cast without dictating reasons for them to be who they are. Her prose is vivid, with true-to-life dialogue full of personality and wit. Dominion is a compelling read, with strong character development and a plot I can recommend to most readers. The use of cultural dialect—rooted in Black Southern identity—enriches the reading experience without alienating the non-Black or non-American reader. Although I can appreciate the amount of story contained inside in only 240 pages, I wished Citchens had explored Rev and his influence more.

Ultimately, Dominion is a searing exploration of how unmet expectations, societal conventions, and the suppression of self can fracture individuals and families. It is a thought-provoking novel I would recommend to many readers interested in multilayered narratives rooted in Black American culture, the crushing power of patriarchy, and fiery individual rebellion.

Rating: 4.5/5
Recommended

Thank you, Addie E. Citchens and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this digital galley via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Original writing gives this story of male dominion a lift and makes it unputdownable! The way I binged this book in a day because I could not stop reading!

Set around the turn of the millennial a story is told by two women about the men in their lives fuled by the patriarchy.
Pricilla - mother of five boys and the reverend's wife, has gotten four of her boys safely and successfully out of her house and into the world. But her youngest Emanuel tests her limits as he’s becoming more and more like his father. She’s overlooked daily in her role as the reverend's wife, never getting credit for the work she does behind the scenes.

Diamond - burdened with a strippers name she vows to keep her virginity and love Emanuel aka Wonderboy forever. Two vows that are constantly tested.

The writing is so fresh and different from anything else I’ve read. It feels like I was told the story from a different time. I can only compare it somewhat to “The Help” , another book with addictive and stylistic writing, even though these are very different. The two women’s voices also came through in different ways, which I think is well done.
It’s interesting telling these men’s stories through the eyes of the women who love them. It makes me wonder what lies in the areas these women chose to ignore.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. The characters and plot line are gripping and believable. The prose never misses a beat. At only 240 pages, the book packs one heck of a whallop in a small, tight and elegant package.

This is the story of the secrets behind a Black church in Mississippi. As one might guess, all is not as it seems in the seemingly perfect pastor’s family. The wife is constantly popping pills or drinking. The super-achiever son is up some questionable mischief. The pastor himself isn’t exactly what he seems, and some of his behavior is definitely un-Christian.

I appreciated this book having just the right amount of dialect to convey color, but also be accessible to a universal (non-Black) audience. I loved the three main narrative voices, each with its own distinct flavor. The angst of an orphaned teenage girl, and her desire to be love and accepted, felt perfect. So did the dilemma of the pastor’s wife, loving her sons despite what might be bad behavior, and wanting to maintain her privileged position in the community. I couldn’t wait to see how the author would spin her plot web (exceedingly skillfully), and make the reader feel they were caught in the culture of this small corner of the South.

Hats off to Addie Citchens for this wonderful glimpse into a little-known (to me at least) aspect of American culture.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

Wow, simply wow. DOMINION is a superb novel from start to finish. Somehow this story manages to be both poignant and scathing. The narrative flows beautifully, and the taut pacing and shorter length make this a real page turner. The character development is complex and realistic.

Citchens is incredibly talented, and I look forward to more of her work.

I highly recommend DOMINION for fans of literary fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. This first novel follows Reverend Sabre Winfrey’s family in a small town in Mississippi. The story is told through Priscilla, the wife and mother of five boys, including Emanuel, nicknamed Wonderboy. He plays guitar at the church and is the star quarterback. The other half of the novel is told by Emanuel’s girlfriend, Diamond. The Reverend runs the town with a tight fist, but now all his family’s secrets are slowly coming out.

This was a great debut novel centered around the Winfrey family in Dominion, Mississippi. The Winfrey's are headed by patriarch Reverend Sabre Winfrey and his wife Priscilla. They are the top of their community and have five sons.

The plot centers around their youngest son, Emmanuel "Wonderboy" Winfrey, and is narrated primarily by his mother Priscilla and girlfriend, Diamond. This is a novel about privilege, patriarchy, and the rot that hides behind righteousness. It deals with the ways women fall victim to and enable misogyny and violence by the me in their lives. Citchens is a wonderful writer, and I was so drawn into the voices of Priscilla and Diamond. They are both nuanced characters with interesting perspectives. The plot truly went in several ways I couldn't predict. Once I started reading I couldn't stop.

I can't wait for whatever Citchens writes next!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.