The year is 1943. Aboard a ship bound for England via Mombasa, civilian nurse Kathleen Yeats is sailing home after the devastating death of her husband overseas. Hours after learning that she’s pregnant, her ship is torpedoed and sunk in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and Kathleen becomes a civilian P.O.W. on a Japanese submarine. Spared death by her nursing skills, Kathleen manages to make it to Singapore, where she is transferred to the Sime Road Civilian Internment camp.
At the camp, Kathleen must face the dismay of war as she and her fellow female prisoners suffer and hope for release—all while Kathleen navigates a pregnancy and birth. But there is a light at the end of this tunnel. In 1945, during Repatriation to England, Kathleen meets Ralph Upton-Pallant, a British Army P.O.W. doctor from Changi prison. But can Kathleen overcome her guilt over the death of her husband, the trauma of her past, and learn to love again? And can Ralph truly convince her to live life to the fullest?
“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I’m with you … I love you for the part of me that you bring out.”
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
“To love is not to look at one another, it is to look, together, in the same direction.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Story Behind the Story!
1948
1954
1956
Canada 1956
Chris Milligan has always had a lifelong interest in World Geography. He was born in April 1945 in Bromley, Kent, England at the end of WW2. His family emigrated to Australia in 1948 returning to Bromley, England in 1954. In 1956 they immigrated to Canada settling in Montreal, Quebec.
After completing his Montreal public school education (Merton Elementary and Monkland High School), he attended Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) graduating in 1967 with a BA in Geography. In 1969 he completed the McGill University Teacher Education Diploma and started his public school teaching career as an elementary and high school classroom teacher in the English school system of Montreal. In 1973 he graduated McGill University with an M.Ed (Teaching Geography).
In academic year 1974-75 he joined McGill University, Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction as an assistant professor. His area of expertise was the Later Childhood Social Studies curriculum. In 1986 he earned an Ed.D in Curriculum (University of Toronto).
In 1967 he married his wife Mary a high school Art teacher. They have three sons, and love and cherish their four granddaughters and four grandsons. Milligan maintains his success in his teaching career is attributed to the love, strength and support of his wife Mary.
He retired in 2010 after a forty-one year Public School, and McGill University, Faculty of Education, teaching career.
In 2014 he was a recipient of the Canadian Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation for work on the integration of historical material with public engagement in remembrance of the sacrifice and achievement of Canadians in armed conflict.
In 2025 he finally completed the challenge Mary had set for him thirty-two years earlier with the publication of Love Never Fails (2025).
The Beginning: A 1965 Chance Encounter On The Commuter Train
Late one afternoon in early September 1965, the commuter train pulled into Cedar Park Station (Pointe-Claire). I was sitting inside the train looking through the window at the commuters stepping off the train and congregating on the platform. They were waiting for the train to resume its journey along the West Island of Montreal before they could safely cross the train tracks to the south-side pedestrian tunnel. I became very aware of a young woman wearing a stylish Macintosh raincoat and sporting a chic short hairstyle standing directly below where I was sitting in the train. I stared at the top of her head as the train slowly began to pull away from the station. At that moment, she looked up, and our eyes met for about five seconds. She was stunning! As the train gradually increased speed she quickly disappeared out of sight. At age twenty, I was a socially awkward and inexperienced naive young man, and wondered if I would ever see this young woman again.
One month later I was standing at the Geography Lab doorway when this same young woman passed by directly in front of me on her way to the lecture hall across from the Lab. I now knew she was a student in Prof. Clinch’s - A Regional Geography of Canada. Within minutes, I had identified Mary, thanks to the class attendance sheet!! In early November while focused on correcting student maps at the lab front desk, a young lady asked for help in writing her final term paper on Lincoln County, Ontario. I looked up and was delighted to see… Mary.
Almost two years later in 1967 we married, and my educational career was launched into a highly positive and fulfilling trajectory with Mary’s love and guidance.
In May 1993, Mary challenged me to write a fictional romance novel about WWII that would appeal to female readers. It had to blend the harshness of war with the warmth of a love story. Taking readers on a journey through love, loss, and the impact of war proved to be a difficult challenge. It would take another thirty-two years for me to finally complete Love Never Fails (2025). Along the way, Mary’s support never wavered. She helped me through many bouts of writer's block. In fact, her love for me never failed, for which I am eternally grateful.
Mary’s 1993 Challenge to Me
In 1993, Australian maritime author John Foley and I commenced a trans-Pacific collaboration to write a historical account of the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship CENTAUR: The Myth of Immunity. The publication date coincided with the 50th anniversary of the May 15, 1943, sinking where my Uncle David Ireland Milligan AB was a casualty of the torpedoing. We had a successful book launch at The Mary Ryan Bookstore in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Feedback on the book was positive and supportive of its academic nature.
Back home in Canada, Mary told me that she had only managed to read the first three chapters of the book because, as she put it, “The book may be historically correct and scholarly, but I believe it would appeal to more female readers if there were a love interest involved!” With that assessment, she immediately challenged me to write a fictional love story about WWII, centered in the Far East, that would appeal more to female readers.
I accepted her challenge and smugly thought, How difficult could that be? As it turned out, quite difficult indeed! Even with Mary’s constant support, and my numerous failed attempts at just starting the story, I gave up. I had failed and pushed the project aside. It had proven to be a much harder task than I had originally thought. However, I did not realize it would take thirty-two years to finally complete Mary’s challenge with the publication of Love Never Fails (2025).
The book is a work of fiction, however, it is loosely based upon certain historical WWII Japanese War Crime Trials in the Far East, particularly Singapore (the Sime Road Trial), and Yokohama, Japan (The U.S. vs Ichioka et al). I altered some names, dates, events, and sequences to fit into the developing storyline.
Sadly, over the past decade, Mary - my loving wife and soulmate of fifty-eight years has become afflicted with Vascular Dementia and is unable to read the story I wrote for her. Therefore, dear reader, you decide if I have succeeded with Mary’s original challenge.
I hope you enjoy the story.
Chris Milligan
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
A Final Note: A Gift to our Community
This novel is a labour of love in honour of my wife. It was her original idea, and challenge to me. My only regret is that it took so long to complete. However the story required all that time to properly come together in my brain. This tells you a lot about the limited grey matter between my ears! I dedicated the book to Mary with all my affectionate love.
To celebrate my recent 80th birthday, and our 58 years of marriage, I am donating a portion of my book proceeds equally between the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation and the Creek Way Village Long Term Care Facility (The Willow Foundation), both located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The dedicated love and care these two local institutions demonstrate daily towards all their patients is truly marvellous.
Other Books by the Author
Christopher S. Milligan & John C.H.Foley. 1993. Australian Hospital Ship CENTAUR: The Myth of Immunity. Nairana Publications, Hendra, Queensland, Australia. ISBN No. 0 646 13715 8
[Book Out of Print - Available on some second hand book websites]
Christopher S. Milligan & David C. Smith. 2006. Le Pélican and Early Canadian History - A Sourcebook and Study Guide. Central Books, Quezon City, Philippines. ISBN: 971-691-418-0
Chris Milligan & David Smith. 2013. Check Mate! Two Boys Experience the Life and Death Fight for Control of the Hudson Bay Fur Trade. Friesen Press, Victoria, B.C. Canada. ISBN 978-1-4602-1039-0 https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000008811023/Chris-Milligan-&-David-Smith-Check-Mate!
“Exciting novel for the young reader…portrayed with historical accuracy. A wonderful lesson on humanity and its capacity to overcome class, religious and ethnic prejudices.” Guy Vadeboncoeur, Ph.D., FCMA, Director and Chief Curator, Stewart Museum, Montreal, QC