Customer Reviews

A Toehold on Life

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A Toehold on Life is the absorbing and remarkable life story Mary Wilson, a woman who triumphed over a series of personal and physical hardships. These hardships would have been hard for anyone to overcome, and Mary had the added disadvantage of having to do it without arms. The book follows Mary's life from a happy childhood in which her armlessness since birth is readily accepted by her loving family, siblings and playmates, through several difficult marriages that tested every ounce of her courage, self-sufficiency, and grit, and finally through two extremely happy marriages, which returned the kind of love and support she had given to others her entire life. The style of writing is well-suited to the kind of life lived by Mary -- honest, direct, and free from any sense of pity or maudlin sentimentality. Needless to say, Mary's life story is extremely inspirational in terms of showing what can be gained by having a positive attitude, ingenuity and courage -- courage in putting oneself "out there" in a "take me as I am" statement as Mary pursued her everyday activities as a Marimba-playing musician, salesperson, store owner, homemaker and mother, and childcare professional, to name a few. I recommend this book highly as an interesting read for anyone who is interested in learning about the variety of experiences possible in the the family of man, regardless of whether or not the subject is disabled or able-bodied.

Mary Wilson's story is one of perserverance and inspiration. Born without arms, she never saw herself as handicapped, but as a "normal armless person." She's one amazing woman. I'm proud to say I've known her for over 20 years and consider her my "surrogate" mom.

While I knew much of her story from countless mornings at her kitchen counter, there were certain stories that she chose not to share over the coffee cups. This book filled in the details for me and made me even more aware of her triumph and spirit.

Morton's writing style is often choppy and mostly narrative. It would have been a stronger story with more quotes from the loved ones in Mary's life, or recollections from Mary herself. Even with that minor distraction, I really enjoyed reading the story of a woman who never gave up.