Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina is a novel by Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in serial installments from 1877 to 1878. Widely regarded as one of the greatest works of literature ever written, it opens with one of the most famous lines in fiction: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

The novel tells the tragic story of Anna Karenina, a married aristocrat who begins a passionate affair with the dashing Count Vronsky. As their relationship deepens, Anna is cast out of respectable society and consumed by jealousy and despair. In parallel, the novel follows Levin, a landowner searching for meaning through work, faith, and family — a storyline drawn closely from Tolstoy’s own life.

A sweeping exploration of love, family, faith, and social convention in Imperial Russia, Anna Karenina combines psychological insight with a vast social panorama, and remains essential reading nearly a century and a half after its publication.