In this intimate, haunting literary memoir, an American icon tells her story for the first time, and in her own gorgeous words, about a challenging and lonely childhood, the craft that helped her find her voice, and a powerful emotional legacy that shaped her journey as a daughter and a mother.

One of the most celebrated, beloved, and enduring actors of our time, Sally Field has an infectious charm that has captivated the nation for more than five decades, beginning with her first TV role at the age of seventeen. From Gidget's sweet-faced "girl next door" to the dazzling complexity of Sybil, to the Academy Award-worthy ferocity and depth of Norma Rae and Mary Todd Lincoln, Field has stunned audiences time and again with her artistic range and emotional acuity. Yet, one character always remained hidden – the shy and anxious little girl within.

Throughout most of her life, Field sought acceptance and fought feelings that she wouldn’t be loved if she wasn’t good enough – and she struggled to define what “good enough” was and how to get there. She found one kind of “good enough” with acting and with the capacity to lose herself in a character, or rather, to develop a character to inhabit. After beginning her career in lightweight television sitcoms, Field grew more serious about understanding and developing her craft, and spent years in various actor’s studio groups.  She eventually broke away from the bubbly ingénue image with dramatic blockbusters like Sybil and Norma Rae.

Along the way, she acquired and shed several husbands, gave birth to three children whom she raised  mostly alone with the help of her mother, and struggled always to come to terms with a childhood trauma that would haunt her throughout her adult life.  Field’s relationship with Burt Reynolds toward the end of the book was especially sad given the energy he sapped from her.  And, while she does discuss their relationship, it is more as a journey of growth and self-discovery than it is as a kiss-and-tell.  Sally’s relationship with her mother, the heart of her life’s torments, was ultimately cemented peacefully when her mother was nearly on her death bed.

Field brings readers behind the scenes for, not only the highs and lows of her star-studded early career in Hollywood, but deep into the truth of her lifelong relationships – including her complicated love for her own mother.  Powerful and unforgettable, In Pieces is an inspiring and important account of life as a woman in the second half of the twentieth century.