My mother wrote a diary daily for 1941 and the first quarter of 1942. My father was in the army in Malta and was not to return home until 1943. There were air raids on Newcastle and Sunderland and the siren seemed to go every night. The diary reflects her anxiety both for her husband and her two small children as well as her frustrated ambition to be a writer. It illustrates life in those uncertain times with its shortages of food and other necessities we take for granted now. Even the weather seemed harsh and unforgiving. I've also included some letters she wrote to my father and her shopping lists.