Anna Karenina
[Viv Groskop](/authors/OL7648401A) has discovered the meaning of life in Russian literature. As she knows from personal experience, everything that has ever happened in life has already happened in these novels: from not being sure what to do with your life ([*Anna Karenina*](/works/OL267096W)) to being in love with someone who doesn't love you back enough ([*A Month in the Country*](/works/OL16235055W) by [Turgenev](/authors/OL10240A)) or being socially anxious about your appearance (all of [Chekhov](/authors/OL3156833A)'s work). This is a literary self-help memoir, with examples from the author's own life that reflect the lessons of literature, only in a much less poetic way than [Tolstoy](/authors/OL26783A) probably intended, and with an emphasis on being excessively paranoid about having an emerging moustache on your upper lip, just like Natasha in [*War and Peace*](/works/OL267171W).
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Anna Karenina
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In late nineteenth century Russia, a married society woman falls hard for a young officer while a country landowner courts a younger woman who is in love with someone else. Two parallel marriages.
Anna Karenina was written by Leo Tolstoy and serialized between 1875 and 1877. The full novel was published in 1878 and is widely considered one of the greatest works of realist fiction in any language.
Anna Karenina is over 800 pages and uses 19th-century Russian conventions including patronymic names. Modern translations, especially the Pevear and Volokhonsky version, are accessible. The opening 100 pages with the cast can take time to settle into.
Anna Karenina is 224 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Anna Karenina takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
Anna Karenina is a standalone novel by an unknown author, not part of a series.
Anna Karenina is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.