She was born in Chicago, and raised in Highland Park, Illinois. She attended the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa, where she earned her master's degree from the Iowa Writer's Workshop. After 32 years in advertising, (for the last six years she was a Senior Vice President of Mccann-Erickson Usa, Inc, a New York advertising agency), she lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She is now writing fiction full-time.

She has published three novels: Lily Beach, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, and The Middle Ages. Her next novel, The Age of Ecstasy, is based on the life of Edith Wharton.

Fields writes about women's lives, and their struggles to be happy in a changing world. Her books are also published in Germany, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.