Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dominion’ by Addie E. Citchens

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.

Sarah Gregg of Lemuria Book Store in Jackson, Miss., recommends a novel that delves deep into a family drama in a small Mississippi Delta town.

The debut novel “Dominion” by Addie E. Citchens takes on themes of power, patriarchy and sexual repression.

Gregg calls it a character-driven novel, and it was the connection between the two main female characters — including what they don’t manage to say — that kept her reading.

We focus on the family Sabre Winfrey, Jr. As a pastor of a large Black Baptist church and owner of several other companies, he wields tremendous power and respect in the town.

His son Manny, nicknamed Wonderboy, is equally beloved, until he’s caught in an act of violence he can’t hide. The story centers on two women who love them: Winfrey’s wife, Pricilla, and Manny’s girlfriend, Diamond.

Gregg says that the inciting act forces the two women to talk with each other about “how they can protect themselves, protect Manny's reputation, and protect other people in the town.

"It's a fantastic read. I think some reviewers might want it to be a little longer or have a little more discussion between the characters, but I think it's such a perfect capsule of real life that you don't have the conversations that you need to be having.”

Trigger warning: This novel involves sexual assault.