My first awareness that Belle Burden's Strangers was going to be a smash came late last year in a conference call with a colleague in London—the first words out of her mouth were to ask if any of us in New York had gotten our hands on an early copy. Indeed, the Vanderbilt heiress's memoir of her divorce became an instant bestseller, with Gwyneth Paltrow set to produce and star in a film adaptation. Burden sat down with ELLE contributor Yelena Shuster, sharing her process and an important message to women about having their own money. "I hope that both my contemporaries, younger and older, take it as a wake-up call about really paying attention to their finances," she tells us. Read more below. —Sara Austin, executive editor |
