“With her shrewd eye and large heart, Sally Quinn has always brought a novelist’s sensibility to her work as one of the great chroniclers of power and of faith in America. Tireless and gifted, curious and empathetic, she is always worth reading, for she writes of the things that matter most: sin and grace, appetite and love, fear and hope.” —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author and journalist
Sally Quinn, acclaimed Washington Post journalist, bestselling author and co-founder with historian and author Jon Meacham of The Washington Post’s “On Faith” website, is known for sparking national conversations around politics, spirituality and love. In her latest novel, SILENT RETREAT (On Sale: June 3, 2025) Quinn presents readers with a vivid and provocative love story that walks the electric tightrope between faith and sensuality, restraint and ecstasy, duty and longing.
When prize-winning reporter Sybilla Sumner checks into a monastery for a silent retreat, romance is the last thing on her mind. Seeking solace amid the rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley, she hopes to find clarity away from the pressures of her crumbling marriage and high-profile life.
Across the monastery’s quiet halls, Archbishop James Fitzmaurice Kelly is battling his own inner turmoil. A man of deep conviction and unwavering faith, he has spent decades honoring his vow of celibacy – even as he questions the very institutions he serves. But when their paths cross in silence, the unspoken connection between them ignites into something neither expected nor could resist.
A mesmerizing blend of passion, intellect, and spiritual exploration, SILENT RETREAT is a novel that dares to ask: What are we willing to sacrifice for love? And can faith and desire truly coexist?
About the Author:
Sally Quinn is a longtime Washington Post journalist, columnist, television commentator, Washington insider, and one of the capital’s legendary hostesses. She is also the founder of The Washington Post’s religion website “On Faith.” Quinn has been with The Washington Post for more than 50 years covering politics, culture, and social life.
Quinn has written five books: We’re Going to Make You a Star, about her experience as the first female network anchor in the United States for “CBS Morning News”; Regrets Only, her first novel; Happy Endings, its sequel; and The Party, in which Quinn offers an insider’s look at Washington entertaining and a personal view of the value of friendship. She published a memoir entitled Finding Magic in September 2017, about her marriage to the legendary Watergate editor of The Washington Post, Ben Bradlee. Bradlee was featured in the HBO documentary, The Newspaperman. He was played by Jason Robards in the film, All the President’s Men and by Tom Hanks in The Post, with Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham.
Quinn was with the late Ben Bradlee for 43 years until he died in 2014. They have one son, Quinn Bradlee. She lives in Washington, D.C.