Dominion: A Novel

by Calvin Baker

With Calvin Baker’s first novel, Naming The New World, he was named a “Notable First Novelist” by Time magazine. Since his second novel, Once Two Heroes, Baker has continued to be acclaimed by the major media from the Los Angeles Times to Esquire. Now, with Dominion, Baker has written a lush, incantatory novel about three generations of an African American family in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Dominion tells the story of the Merian family who, at the close of the seventeenth century, settle in the wilderness of the Carolinas. Jasper is the patriarch, freed from bondage, who manages against all odds to build a thriving estate with his new wife and two sons — one enslaved, the other free. For one hundred years, the Merian family struggles against the natural (and occasionally supernatural) world, colonial politics, the injustices of slavery, the Revolutionary War and questions of fidelity and the heart. Footed in both myth and modernity, Calvin Baker crafts a rich, intricate and moving novel, with meditations on God, responsibility, and familial legacies. While masterfully incorporating elements of the world’s oldest and greatest stories, the end result is a bold contemplation of the origins of America.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Novels, Adult Fiction, African American

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Calvin Baker is the author of the critically-acclaimed novels Naming the New World, Once Two Heroes and Dominion, which was a finalist for the Hurston-Wright Award, a New York Magazine Critics’ Pick and New York Daily News Best Book of the Year. His long-awaited fourth novel, Grace, will be published in July.

Calvin Baker grew up in Chicago and currently lives in New York.

Reviews

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dominion is a wonderfully imagined novel set in Colonial America at the cusp of the Revolutionary War. The story focuses on freedman Jasper Merian, his sons (Magnus and Purchase), and grandson (Caleum). The story opens with a young, anxious, and ambitious Jasper arriving in untamed Carolina territory with nothing but his drive and determination to earn enough money to purchase his enslaved family (Ruth and son, Magnus) from the Virginia plantation he left behind. He is sold "cursed" land that the locals shun because of the roaming anathema, Ould Lowe (or is it really Old Love?), whose banshee-like howls echo against the mountains and is heard for miles. He battles the demon and banishes it to the bottom of the lake and moves forward to conquer the land with backbreaking labor and an unconquerable vision of utopia. He is met with a myriad of challenges, but succeeds slowly to mold the land into a profitable farm where tobacco flourishes. When he realizes he needs a helpmeet, he seeks a wife initially for convenience. After a short courtship, he marries an older widow, fathers a son, and names his estate Stonehouses.

Baker cleverly ties the legacy of the Merian men to that of Stonehouses; their choices in life have direct bearing on their families and the estate. Jasper, Purchase, Magnus, Caleum are full-bodied noble characters, each wonderfully broken, succumbing to their passions and hiding their wounds from heartbreak deep within their souls. The author builds a rich community of friends, neighbors, and enemies around these four key characters. It is through their interrelationships that the social climate and attitude of the day, rules of courtship and class structure, complexities of the pre-Revolution political climate, the pain and cruelties of slavery, the hypocrisy of unjust slave laws, and the hard living and dying of man and beast alike are revealed. He adds in folklore and an ethereal element when casting out evi l spirits and connecting with African ancestors for protection, guidance, and strength.

I really enjoyed this book on so many levels. It was so carefully crafted and perfectly paced. The writing was awesome - He gave me "just enough" to see the images, feel their pain and loss, and celebrate their successes. The historical references caused me to research and learn more about the era. The culmination of Caleum's homecoming and the circular slant of battle-worn hero combating Ould Lowe just as his grandfather had done years before was an unexpected and well thought-out conclusion - I loved it! Bravo!

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's little justice in the world of publishing when mediocre books like, say, Lovely Bones or Water for Elephants have millions of readers and a beautiful novel like this one goes virtually unnoticed. It's an almost mythical telling, with occasional light touches of magic, of the story of three generations of free African Americans on the colonial Carolina frontier. It's a story of race, though characters' race is rarely mentioned; of making a home; and of conquering the frontier, though the racial angle gives that a much different perspective than such stories usually convey. And the fact that the characters are free African Americans also gives a fresh twist to the story of race in colonial America, making us look afresh at that story, in some of the ways that the wonderful novel The Known World did. I highly recommend that readers go out of their way to find this obscure novel.

[Cecilia Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of DOMINION by Calvin Baker

(This is my first real long length audible book experience. I’m reading lots of books right now and I knew that I would not get through this one because of its length, unless it was in audible form. I still prefer to actually read books)

This is my first historical fiction novel that dealt with African-Americans over a span of several decades. I have read the THE THIRD LIFE OF GRANGE COPELAND ( my favorite Alice Walker novel) and ALL of Toni Morrison’s books and Zora N. Hurston’s books, DOMINION is quite different from those books. I felt compelled to listen and know about each character as well as I was not drawn into judging the decisions that each character made knowing the kinds of challenges that they faced as Black people in America through each decade. I loved the symbolism and the suggestion of the ghost OLD LOWE and what it could have represented without the author really telling us. I loved the various dignities that characters possessed. I did have some issues on how one of the characters died. As I think on that death, while I didn’t like it, I understand why it’s a part of this story. I tried to understand that period of time a little better through what was introduced to me in scenes that I don’t read about often. I felt the horrors of slavery and war, as well as how this family had so much strength to rise above both on such a variety of levels, even though these characters were not without often incredible faults. I also appreciate how he introduced those who did not escape slavery and what their lives looked like and how complicated it made EVERYTHING. Maybe the author was trying to let the readers know that observance of these many aspects of humankind must be respected regardless of where they’re from and how they got there.

While this is a book filled with in-depth detail around just what was going on in terms of the scenery around untamed wilderness, farming, raising cattle, the building of homes from scratch, the changing of seasons, lawlessness and what ALL that’s involved with this period of time, with that said, some may find the book slow moving. I felt that the author wanted you to experience the fact that compared to today, things not only moved extremely slow, but those with great direction in their lives worked with purpose, real goals and perseverance.

The observation on how personal relationships came to be, was also quite fascinating. The author really examines intimacy from a historical perspective that is so revealing and honest.

I can’t imagine the amount of research that went into writing this book. This is my second Calvin Baker novel. The first book of his that I read was GRACE. In both of these books, he deals with the issue of race from a perspective that makes you often ignore it, because it’s only mentioned every now and then. While I’m not sure how realistic that is, I like how he challenges us to think that way. It’s like he is trying to look at the definition of DOMINION and GRACE and the complexities involved in such words and how it applies to humankind AS A WHOLE and not just based on the color of ones skin or culture. These days, it’s important that we are reminded of this every minute of the day, every day!

[Rachel Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised that this book isn't more popular; but then again, maybe I'm not, as it simultaneously blends mythology and Biblical stories along with the history of freedom, slavery and African-Americans in a subtle way. Actually, this book reminded me of reading Tolstoy or Steinbeck. Themes like sons and fathers, legacy, land, family drama and doomed love affairs loom large.

The language is a little weird though. I think the author was trying to evoke "Colonial authenticity" but instead it just interfered with the story. Also, the little vignettes in present tense were AWFUL. How can any self-respecting writer not understand that reading in present tense is tortuous?

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a great story for me: I was hunting for a summer sublet in NYC, and one of the sublets I looked at was this author's apartment. He was really friendly, we got to chatting, and when I asked what kind of writing he did, he gave me a copy of the book. I admit to being a bit turned off when I realized it was historical fiction (not usually my favorite genre) but, having brought no reading material with me, I dove into it on the train home. It turned out to be one of my favorite books!

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the writing was beautiful and haunting, and the story felt honest... but the author dives into annoying "deeper than thou" reveries every 50 or so pages which are annoying and not well integrated or necessary to the story. boo.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, gorgeous.

[Glenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was well written but to me it didn't add anything.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was beautifully written - almost Biblical in style (but much more interesting).

[Aud · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow. Untrue to time period (colonial) in speech, manner and world view.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect retelling of the odyssey, brilliantly written