Addie E. Citchens delivers a devastating debut novel that excavates the rotting foundations beneath the glossy veneer of small-town Southern respectability. Dominion by Addie E Citchens unfolds in the fictional town of Dominion, Mississippi, where Reverend Sabre Winfrey commands both pulpit and community with an iron fist wrapped in holy rhetoric. This is not merely another coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the American South—it’s a surgical examination of how patriarchal power structures enable and protect predators, even when they wear the masks of beloved sons and men of God.
The narrative orbits around Emanuel “Wonderboy” Winfrey, the golden child whose athletic prowess, musical talent, and cherubic appearance make him the pride of his family and community. Yet beneath this carefully constructed image lurks something far more sinister. Citchens employs a multi-perspective narrative that primarily follows three women: Priscilla, Emanuel’s conflicted mother; Diamond, a vulnerable teenage girl caught in Emanuel’s orbit; and various voices that reveal the true cost of maintaining silence in the face of evil.
A Study in Complicity and Willful Blindness
What makes Dominion particularly unsettling is Addie E Citchens’ unflinching examination of how communities protect their golden boys at the expense of their most vulnerable members. The novel’s strength lies not in its revelation of Emanuel’s true nature—Citchens telegraphs his darkness early and deliberately—but in its meticulous documentation of how those around him choose blindness over accountability.
Priscilla Winfrey emerges as perhaps the most complex character in the novel. Trapped in a loveless marriage to a philandering pastor, she medicates herself with pills and alcohol while struggling to maintain the facade of the perfect First Lady. When confronted with evidence of her son’s violent tendencies, she faces an impossible choice between protecting future victims and preserving her family’s status. Citchens renders Priscilla’s internal conflict with devastating psychological realism, showing how even well-meaning people can become complicit in systems of abuse.
The character of Diamond provides a heartbreaking counterpoint to the Winfrey family’s privilege. An orphaned teenager living with her adoptive mother Maggie, Diamond represents the kind of vulnerable young woman that predators like Emanuel target. Her desperate need for love and belonging makes her easy prey, and Citchens captures the particular vulnerability of girls who have already experienced abandonment and loss.
Narrative Structure and Literary Technique
Citchens employs a fragmented narrative structure that mirrors the fractured nature of truth in small communities. The story unfolds through multiple perspectives, with chapters alternating between different characters’ viewpoints. This technique serves multiple purposes: it prevents readers from becoming too comfortable with any single perspective, and it demonstrates how the same events can be interpreted differently depending on one’s position within the community’s power structure.
The author’s prose style is particularly noteworthy for its ability to capture the rhythms and cadences of Southern speech without falling into caricature. Citchens has a keen ear for dialogue, and each character’s voice feels distinct and authentic. The novel’s language shifts seamlessly between lyrical passages describing the Mississippi landscape and stark, unflinching descriptions of violence and trauma.
One of the novel’s most effective literary devices is its use of dramatic irony. Readers understand Emanuel’s true nature long before most characters do, creating a sense of mounting dread as we watch him manipulate those around him. This technique makes the novel’s climax feel both inevitable and shocking.
Historical and Social Context
While Dominion by Addie E Citchens is set in the year 2000, it grapples with issues that feel painfully contemporary. The novel’s exploration of how privilege and respectability can shield abusers from consequences resonates strongly in our current cultural moment. Citchens doesn’t make explicit connections to movements like #MeToo, but the parallels are clear and powerful.
The setting of small-town Mississippi is crucial to the novel’s impact. Citchens captures the suffocating nature of communities where everyone knows everyone else’s business, yet certain truths remain unspoken. The geographic isolation contributes to the sense that escape is impossible for characters like Diamond, who lack the resources and connections that might allow them to build lives elsewhere.
The novel also functions as a critique of certain strains of Christianity that prioritize image over substance. Reverend Sabre Winfrey embodies a particular type of religious leader who uses his position to accumulate power and satisfy his appetites while preaching moral purity to his congregation. The hypocrisy is so blatant that it becomes almost satirical, yet Citchens grounds it in psychological realism that makes it believable rather than cartoonish.
Strengths and Minor Limitations
Dominion succeeds brilliantly as both a psychological thriller and a social critique. Citchens demonstrates remarkable skill in creating atmosphere and building tension. The novel’s exploration of complicity and willful blindness feels both timely and timeless. The author’s ability to render complex female characters with empathy and nuance is particularly impressive for a debut novel.
If there’s a weakness in Dominion by Addie E Citchens, it might be that some plot elements feel slightly too convenient. The novel’s climax, while emotionally satisfying, relies on coincidences that strain credibility. Additionally, some readers might find the relentless darkness of the subject matter challenging to process, though this intensity serves the novel’s thematic purposes.
The pacing occasionally feels uneven, with some sections moving at breakneck speed while others linger perhaps too long on character introspection. However, these are minor quibbles with what is overall a remarkably accomplished debut.
Literary Significance and Impact
Dominion by Addie E Citchens joins a growing canon of Southern literature that refuses to romanticize the past or present of the American South. Citchens follows in the tradition of authors like Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott, and Tana French in using crime and violence as lenses through which to examine broader social issues.
The novel’s treatment of sexual violence is particularly noteworthy for its refusal to sensationalize or exploit trauma for dramatic effect. Citchens focuses on the psychological and social aftermath of violence rather than the acts themselves, making the novel’s impact more profound and lasting.
Comparable Literary Works
Readers who appreciate Dominion by Addie E Citchens might also enjoy:
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – for its exploration of family dysfunction and small-town secrets
- The Mothers by Brit Bennett – for its examination of community, faith, and moral complexity
- Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison – for its unflinching portrayal of abuse and survival
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston – for its complex female protagonist and Southern setting
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt – for its examination of privilege and moral corruption
Final Assessment
Dominion by Addie E Citchens is a powerful and necessary novel that refuses to offer easy answers or comfortable resolutions. Citchens has crafted a work that functions simultaneously as compelling fiction and urgent social commentary. While the subject matter is undeniably dark, the novel’s ultimate message—that silence in the face of evil is its own form of complicity—feels essential for our current moment.
This is a debut that announces Citchens as a significant new voice in American literature. Her ability to combine psychological insight with social critique suggests a bright future for whatever she chooses to tackle next. Dominion is not an easy read, but it’s an important one—a novel that will linger in readers’ minds long after the final page is turned.
