I've never used Curses, so unfortunately I can't help you there. But I wanted to mention that, before you abandon Term::ReadLine completely, it may be easier to simply modify Term::ReadLine::Perl, a Pure Perl implementation of Term::ReadLine, than to create your own from scratch. Again, however, I've never used Curses so it may turn out to be more trouble to modify than it's worth, especially if you need only a limited subset of features from your readline. But regardless, Term::ReadLine::Perl is probably a good place to start, even if just for a good idea how to re-implement it.

bbfu
Black flowers blossom
Fearless on my breath