Although each member's reaction was unique, the points of consensus were that this book is well written and poignant, filled with interesting characters and situations, and that the writer is very good at painting a picture in just a few words - "our eight toothbrushes in a ceramic cup in the bathroom," for example. While nearly all of us enjoyed reading it, some members did not feel that the author's life experience was noteworthy or exceptional enough to warrant a memoir. Some reactions, "Well, a lot of people move a lot" and "a lot of people have a dysfunctional parent" and "a lot of successful people have risen above very difficult childhood circumstances." The book led to a great discussion about the universal quest for the approval of one's parents, regardless of the way the parents have treated the child. Some members found it dark, depressing and gloomy; others felt that it was uplifting and inspiring, proof that the human spirit can triumph over one's experiences and sketchy upbringing.

Welcome to the 50's.....Grandma and Grandpa taking care of children, Mom gone, only Dad. Doesn't sound like the 50's to me....sounds more like the way families are today.


Moonlight on Linoleum is a nostalgic trip back to a life that should have been filled with stable families, but it had two sweet girls who were left with their father and grandparents in Iowa while Mama fulfilled dreams of her own.


And…..Mama wasn't done fulfilling her dreams...more sisters arrived and more new schools. Mama liked to go out and leave Terry in charge. One year the girls were in their third school, but at least with this move they had a house to live in instead of a cramped apartment. That didn't last too long, though. They moved again, and Mama kept on with her antics and with Terry in charge of the girls.



Wow...what an outstanding memoir. This memoir definitely held my interest and made me feel for the children and how they had to endure their childhood as always the new kid at school and not really a kid at home since they always had to do chores that were an adult's. It is hard to believe how resilient we are as children.

This sentence stuck with me: "How was it possible that moonlight on linoleum, washed with my tears, could be so achingly beautiful?" Page 218 I shed and shared Terry’s tears as I read this incredible book.



I have to call you marvelous, Terry. Being able to live like you did as a child and to turn out like you did is truly amazing. You are such a goodhearted person and such a good daughter and above all a WONDERFUL, loving sister.