Unlikely lovers steam in Sally Quinn’s new novel

In "Silent Retreat," Sally Quinn pushes boundaries with a provocative tale of lust, loneliness, and liberation. Niall O'Dowd reviews the novel that’s sending shockwaves through the clerical and political elite alike.

Sally Quinn is one of the most remarkable figures in Washington. She is a hostess nonpareil, a columnist for the Washington Post, and an acclaimed novelist whose latest risque novel, "Silent Retreat," has the chattering classes agog.

She was a close friend of President John F. Kennedy, who often sought the advice of her husband, Ben Bradlee, the legendary newsman who led the coverage on the Nixon Watergate scandal.

"Silent Retreat" is a novel about a wonderful romp and intense affair between Irish-born Archbishop James Fitzmaurice Kelly and Sybilla Sumner, a hard-driving woman in her late 40s, married to a famous TV figure who has utterly failed to satisfy his wife’s needs. They are thrown together in a silent retreat house in rural Virginia.

Quinn has fun with the characters. They are lively, thoughtful and prescient about what their grim futures hold. The Archbishop has just written a tome on celibacy, yet struggles hard to master it. Sybillia sees only divorce and no children as her destiny.

The real Archbishop the character is built on is Archbishop Dermot Martin of Dublin, now retired, who must have been rightfully shocked to read about his doppelganger cavorting in bed with a very beautiful late 40s woman. Quinn’s female lead character experiences a dam burst of dreams and desires, which awakens her physical yearning. Both are profoundly moved by the experience.

How will they fare alone again in the future? This puzzle palace novel leaves lots to chew on.

In recent times, Quinn has been known as a romance writer, and like everything else she turns her hand to, she excels. Now in her 80s, but looking at least a decade younger, she remains a formidable presence in Washington's political and social life. Her party invitations are deeply treasured and fun, held in her 18-room mansion in DC.

“Silent Retreat” is a love story with a Macguffin - an archbishop and a businesswoman breaking out from their celibate roles and dispassionate, lonely lives. The sex scenes will make many religious readers cough up their cornflakes. Even the weather seems to conspire.

 Conditions are cool and wet with the wind sighing softly, which makes perfect timing for a dangerous liaison state of mind. Kismet throws two unlikely lovers together in a silent retreat house in the Shenandoah Valley and sparks a week of passion and new perceptions. Sally Quinn has once again dissected the roiling human emotions that rage even in the calmest of times. Well worth the read.

*Sally Quinn's "Silent Retreat" is available on Amazon.