Trains are a motif throughout the novel, with several major plot points taking place either on passenger trains or at stations in Saint Petersburg or elsewhere in Russia. The story centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and dashing cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky that scandalizes the social circles of Saint Petersburg and forces the young lovers to flee to Italy in a search for happiness, but after they return to Russia, their lives further unravel. It deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. It was initially released in serial installments from 1875 to 1877, all but the last part appearing in the periodical The Russian Messenger.Ī complex novel in eight parts, with more than a dozen major characters, Anna Karenina is spread over more than 800 pages (depending on the translation and publisher), typically contained in two volumes. Many writers consider it to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. David Brannan, Andrew Sly and David WidgerĪnna Karenina (Russian: «Анна Каренина», IPA: ) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878.

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