Two Children Behind A Wall

Sep 22, 2024 8:29 PM

Author:Catherine Laylle

In 1984, Catherine Laylle, a Frenchwomen living in London, met and married a German medical student, Dieter. The couple had two sons, Alexander and Constantin. When, however, at Dieter's insistence, they moved back to his home town in Germany, the marriage began to fall apart. Dieter refused to get a job, Catherine found living with his family oppressive and eventually, she returned to London with the children. The boys spent term time with their mother, holidays with their father - until the summer of 1994, when Dieter decided that his sons should be raised as Germans and, with the support of the local judge, defied the London court ruling that gave Catherine custody. Catherine went to the courts in London, Germany and the Hague - but it seemed that no court outside the jurisdiction of Lower Saxony would overrule the decision. Today, Alexander is eleven and Constantin is nine. Catherine has barely seen them in the two years since Dieter kidnapped them - and then only under the supervision of one of his friends. This is the harrowing story of a mother's attempts to regain her children, and of her desperate struggle against a tyrannical family and the blind injustice of the courts in Europe.

Reviews

[Bernstein] concentrates on telling the stories of those who broke the law, evaded taxes, circumvented international sanctions, hid assets, cheated partners, or 'normalized' fortunes made through crime and corruption.

—— Washington Post

A searching look at the tangled, deeply buried financial network exposed by the publication of the so-called Panama Papers . . . Bernstein does first-rate work in providing a map to a scandal that has yet to unfold completely.

—— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

An important and necessary book that tells a complicated, uncomfortable story clearly and with great power.

—— i paper

With meticulous forensic detail, this true story is as disturbing as it compelling.

—— Sunday Mirror

Remarkable

—— TLS

I pretty much read A FALSE REPORT in one sitting. It is deeply disturbing but brilliant. I hope it helps with the seismic shift needed in attitudes to women who are brave enough to come forward when they have been assaulted.

—— Sandi Toksvig

A deep, disturbing, compelling, important book. A False Report digs into timeless issues – crime, victimhood, honesty, sexism – which have never been more timely. It is also a fascinating, sharply written story that will twist and surprise you.

—— Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief

Incredibly compelling true-crime... Miller and Armstrong have forensically examined the case of a serial rapist, giving the victims a voice while underlining the importance of collaborative police work and believing testimonies - especially in circumstances of sexual violence.

—— A Stylist Spring Pick

A riveting and disturbing true-crime story that reflects the enduring atrocity of rape in America.

—— Kirkus

A timely story, this book examines not only the crimes at its heart, but also the way in which women who report being raped are often placed under suspicion themselves

—— Stylist

A False Report is a reporting triumph: a heartbreaking deep-dive into a case gone horribly wrong; a bone-chilling portrait of a monstrous criminal; and a forceful cri de coeur on behalf of the victim whose claims fell on deaf ears. You'll never read another crime story quite like it.

—— Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls

Miller and Armstrong show how gender bias, and the many myths about sexual assault, still have far too much influence in the way law enforcement investigates these crimes.

This harms victims and allows perpetrators to go free, potentially to commit additional assaults.

But this brilliant book is also a thrilling depiction of an investigation gone right, showing us how good police work, informed by the latest research, can achieve justice for victims of sexual violence.

Well-researched and compassionate, A False Report is essential reading for police, prosecutors, and lawmakers, and for all those seeking to do better for victims of sexual assault.

—— Joanne Archambault, CEO of End Violence Against Women International

Compelling… The marginal advances that have been secured fade into irrelevance in comparison with the horrific chronicle of shortcomings that exist for women in the courts…bang up to date… Kennedy writes well and illustrates her cases with heartrending individual examples

—— Julia Langdon , The Tablet

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