Frances Potts

The Diary Frances Potts

Inspired by a true story, The Diary is set in Walla Walla in the Northwest when President Roosevelt was attempting to break America free from the grip of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The keeper of the diary is Alvin, a young man dealing with tuberculosis, a contagious disease almost as rampant in that time as unemployment and poverty. Through his daily entries over 17 months of hospitalization, you will come to know his wife, family, a cast of fellow patients who are both humorous and heart-breaking...and the secrets Al thought he had buried so deep inside that not even he would remember them. The story blends day-to-day life in a tuberculosis sanatorium with world affairs that include the threat of war as news from Germany, Japan and Italy floated across the oceans to the men in Ward One. The Diary presents a slice of Americana in simpler times when the bond of family and friends was often paramount in surving the hardships of the times. It is a tale of love, loss and triumph.