The Times 19 August 1999
Booker author's ex-wife hides children
By Richard Ford
Ian McEwan, who won custody of his two young sons in March of this year.
The former wife of the novelist Ian McEwan has taken their two sons into hiding in France and is demanding a full inquiry into a court decision to give him custody.
Penny Allen was expected to hand over the boys, aged 13 and 15, to her husband before midnight last Monday. "I have pursued every channel in order to protect my children and now, as a last resort, have written to the Home Secretary," Ms Allen said in a written statement.
"I shall not be returning the children to Mr McEwan as required by the court and am asking for a full inquiry into the case," the statement added.
Ms Allen and the boys are understood to be staying at a secret location in Brittany waiting for Mr McEwan to make the next move.
Legal sources said last night that it would be up to Mr McEwan to take legal action to get compliance with the terms of the order relating to the boys. It was issued at Oxford County Court. The court would issue an order seeking the return of the two to Britain and then to Mr McEwan. Court welfare officers would probably instruct police in Britain to contact their counterparts in France to try to find Ms Allen and the children.
Mr McEwan, who won the Booker Prize with his novel Amsterdam, was not available for comment. Alex Monsey, an assistant to his agent, said. "I am afraid we cannot be of any help at all. He is not making any comment."
Ms Allen and Mr McEwan married in 1982 and the custody row had continued since the marriage ended in 1995. Mr McEwan married Annalena McAfee, a journalist on The Guardian, in 1997.
Her husband got custody of the children in March 1999, though under the terms of the court order she is allowed "contact" with them.
A Home Office spokeswoman said that she did not know if Ms Allen's letter had been received in the office of Jack Straw, who is on holiday until next week. She added that the issue of court proceedings was a matter for the Lord Chancellor's Department.
Comment : What factors have caused many women to believe they should be above the law ?