'It is God's curse that I carry this sex desire for a woman, for when I have one, she is no sooner had than hated.' In his second historical novel, Peachment introduces us to Andrew Marvell, the beguiling 17th century poet and writer of 'To his Coy Mistress', also a spy and politician. Marvell delightfully captured in his metaphysical poetry every aspect of love lost and gained. And yet, ironically, the man himself was a solitary figure whose reflections and tremendous insight allowed beauty to spill from an otherwise lonely existence. Peachment's Marvell allows us to witness those aspects of his life that we never would glean from history alone, as we follow him throughout his childhood, his travels in Europe, his firsthand experiences of the Cromwellian Civil War, and his endless battle between a deep-seated suspicion of women and a passionate yearning for them.