Original title: Анна Каренина
Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), trans. Constance Garnett
Tolstoy's great novel of love, family and Russian society, often called the finest ever written. Anna, a brilliant and magnetic woman married to a stiff Petersburg official, falls for the dashing officer Vronsky — and finds that society forgives a man's affairs but destroys a woman's. Interwoven with her story runs Levin's: a landowner searching for meaning in work, marriage, faith and the land, largely a portrait of Tolstoy himself. Two lives, one ruined by passion pursued and one redeemed by it struggled for. This edition uses Constance Garnett's classic translation.
Text sourced from Project Gutenberg (public domain in the United States); the Project Gutenberg trademark and license text have been removed on import. Public-domain status determined by the author's death year + 50 years rule.