Dominion Book Club Questions & Discussion Guide

About this book

In the fictional Mississippi Delta town of Dominion, the Reverend Sabre Winfrey Jr. rules the Seven Seals church and much of the town besides, and his youngest son, the celebrated athlete Emanuel "Wonderboy," seems to shine brightest of all. Told through the eyes of two women who love these men, Priscilla, the pastor's wife, and Diamond, Wonderboy's girlfriend, the novel watches the family's polished image begin to crack, with consequences that ripple through the whole community. A fierce, tender, and often darkly funny Southern Gothic debut, it is about power and patriarchy, the hypocrisies of the powerful, and the strength it takes to break free.

Discussion questions

1. The novel opens inside a powerful church family in a small Delta town. What was your first impression of the Winfreys, and of the polished image they present to Dominion?
2. The story is told mostly through two women, Priscilla and Diamond, and shifts partway through. If it ever got hard to sit with, whose voice pulled you back, and why?
3. Priscilla, the pastor's wife, and Diamond, Wonderboy's girlfriend, both love men who wound them. What did watching them bear witness, and decide what they can and cannot live with, reveal about each woman?
4. The book asks hard questions about communities that protect powerful men and silence those they harm. Where did you land on the choices the women make, and on what looking away costs them?
5. Citchens sets misogyny and entitlement against the teachings of the church, opening each chapter with a bulletin from the pulpit. What did the book ultimately say about power, hypocrisy, and who pays for the sins of the powerful?
6. The truth of Dominion shifts about a third of the way in, and each chapter carries a church-bulletin epigraph. How did those choices shape what you understood, and when the picture changed for you?
7. Life in Dominion revolves around the Black church and high school football. How did that specific world shape what was possible for these women, and what was not?
8. Did this remind you of another Southern story, or another book about faith, family, and buried harm, in fiction or in life?
9. The novel is interested in the strength it takes to name what everyone can see but no one will say. Without going anywhere you would rather not, did that theme resonate for anyone at the table?
10. Who would you hand this to next, the reader who loves fierce Southern fiction or someone drawn to stories of women reclaiming power, and who should approach it with care?

Themes to listen for

• Power, patriarchy, and entitlement
• Religious authority and hypocrisy
• Communities that protect the powerful and silence the harmed
• Generational trauma, shame, and silence
• Feminine strength and the will to break free

If your club liked this, try…

• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
• The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker
• The Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.

Where to get it

• Check availability at your local library
• Find it on Bookshop.org
• Listen on Libro.fm

Practical notes

Best for clubs that value fierce, unflinching Southern fiction.

Content notes: This is a heavy book that deals with sexual violence, abuse, and addiction, much of it off the page but present throughout. Approach with care, and consider flagging the content to your group in advance.