SILENT RETREAT

At a silent retreat in a secluded monastery, an unhappily married writer and a randy archbishop experience carnal—and spiritual—ecstasy.

Sybilla Sumner is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist whose personal life is cratering. At 39, she very much wants a child—but her husband, a famous New York TV interview host, is infertile, and the two haven’t had sex in forever. What’s more, she’s sure he’s cheating on her. James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, 53 and “extremely good-looking,” has risen above a dreary Irish childhood to become archbishop of Dublin, though he’s been critical of the Catholic church—especially its celibacy vows—in his writings. Fitz, as he’s known, has come to this Shenandoah Valley retreat to brood about his future and his role as a priest. Sybilla, a Catholic who struggles with her religion, is there to sort herself out and get away from her troubles. Fitz and Sybilla are acquainted socially—he’s been a guest on her husband’s show—but are shocked to find themselves in nearby rooms. They recover. When Sybilla breaks down sobbing in the chapel, Fitz is there to comfort her—and after he rescues her from a swimming mishap, they finally go for it. (Fitz had broken his vows earlier in his career, with a nun.) Author Quinn, who blogs about religion and was once the Washington Post’s star Style reporter (married to the paper’s late editor, Ben Bradlee), devotes a great deal of space to Fitz and Sybilla’s erotic couplings. It’s not exactly boring, and there is some suspense about how the affair will end up. It’s just that the narrative in general is so preposterous. Then there’s Sybilla’s overheated inner dialogue (“Yes, he was gorgeous. Spiritually I could only imagine.” Or, “He hadn’t shaved since we’d arrived and I found his stubble devastating.”) It doesn’t help that the book veers awkwardly between first-person (Sybilla’s story) and third (Fitz’s). Brief flashes of vivid storytelling, mainly in scenes set in Dublin, can’t compensate.

An unholy brew of lust and faith.