The Best of Friends

Book excerpt: For more than two decades, Mariana Pasternak and Martha Stewart were nearly inseparable. They first met over a garden gate in Westport, Connecticut—two suburban wives wedded to successful men but with grand aspirations of their own. Their friendship only deepened after their marriages ended in divorce. Drawn into a seductive world of privilege and adventure, Pasternak, who struggled as a working single mother, watched with admiration as Martha built an empire that would make her one of the richest women in America. The two women enjoyed amazing experiences, traveled the world together, and talked on a daily basis, sharing thoughts and feelings, plans and dreams. But as time passed, money, men, and the arrogance of wealth frayed the bonds of their friendship—until the final break came when Pasternak was called as a witness in the high-profile trial that ultimately brought about Stewart's conviction and prison sentence. The Best of Friends: Martha and Me tells the story of an extraordinary friendship and its devastating aftermath with breathtaking candor. Every woman who has had a best female friend will see herself in this deeply personal memoir.