Annie was born in 1867 and died in 1958. She, husband Roger, and their two sons and two daughters lived on the family farm at Kakatahi.
When Annie's two sons were called up to fight in World War I, their mother declared: "If my boys are going to war, we're all going." So the family travelled to England and spent four years in London.
The diary covers this period - each year contained in a large, lined notebook. The first diary entry is written when they first step on the boat in June 1916, and the last is written when they arrive back in Wanganui in January 1920.
Annie recorded everything in the diary, including the prices of things she bought while overseas.
Mrs Norris spent four years painstakingly going through her grandmother's diaries.
"It was a matter of deciphering the writing, taking out what was irrelevant and keeping what was relevant."
She was 18 when Annie died, and remembers her as a "little old lady in black".
"She was a very strong-willed person, but she was always very nice to me."
Mrs Norris said she thought Annie would be "delighted" that her diaries were being published.
"As for me, I'm over the moon. It's been a long journey," she said.
Annie's War is published by Otago University Press, and will be for sale at Paige's Book Gallery.
