Your Guide to Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

About Anna Karenina 
It was the "Harlequin Romance" of its day. See why Leo Tolstoy—who had been writing for two decades—called this book "the first novel I have written."


Discuss Amongst Yourselves
With a book like this, you'll never run out of discussion topics in your book club! Stimulate your thoughts and kick off your Anna book conversations with questions about each part of the book.

Plot Points 
Families and how they relate forms the cornerstone of Anna Karenina. Want to double check something you've just read? Use our summaries of every part of the book to help guide your way through this passionate love affair. 

Your Quick Guide
Get character descriptions at a glance, plus a place to jot down notes as you read—all on one great bookmark! Download it today.

Follow Anna's Journey
She's the book's namesake and the woman we've all been waiting to meet—the complex and intriguing Anna Karenina. Then, get more insight on your other favorite characters.

Get to Know Leo Tolstoy
He's one of the most lauded authors of all time. Learn more about this man of contradictions. 

Art Imitating Life
Discover the real life courtship of Leo and wife Sonya—and how he incorporated it into Anna Karenina. Get the facts about one of the most dramatic marriages in literary history. 

Tackle the "Woman Question"
The place of women in society was hotly debated during Tolstoy's time. See how he contributed to the debate and what did he thought of his female characters.

Anna's Many Faces
Discover three of the most popular and lasting of the genres found in the novel. Like a certain take on Anna? Find out what you should read next. 

An extremely sexy and engrossing read, this book tells the tale of one of the most enthralling love affairs in the history of literature—it truly was the "Harlequin Romance" of its day. Penned while Tolstoy was wrestling with a religious crisis that nearly destroyed him, the book is filled with passion and soul-searching. Serialized in the Russian Herald from 1875–1877 and published in its entirety in 1878, Anna Karenina was wildly popular and controversial. And even though Count Leo Tolstoy had been writing fiction for more than two decades and had already published War and Peace when he undertook Anna Karenina, the author called it "the first novel I have written."

Reading Between the Lines
Yet Anna Karenina is a book that covers much more than one woman's misguided love affair. Tolstoy 's broad canvas is big enough to include insight into happy marriages, adultery, sexuality, country life, politics, masculinity and femininity, individuality, conformity, altruism, love, death, longing and success. On nearly every one of its more than 800 pages is a sliver of Tolstoy's philosophy of life. Again and again, these small philosophical interludes resound with meaning that is as applicable today as it was more than a century ago. In all of literature, there are few novels that cover as much territory, or have stood the test of time so well.

Blood Is Thicker Than Water
From its very first provocative line the novel sucks you in: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." This is a novel about something everyone can relate to: family. The two main characters, Anna and Levin, are eventually linked through marriage—Anna is Levin's sister-in-law's sister-in-law. Through the Oblonskys, Karenins, Levins and Shcherbatskys, we come to understand the complexities of family relationships. We appreciate the ties that bind human beings together in an awareness of the fragility of life. The intricacies of love and relatedness are explored in some of the greatest depth of any novel written before or since. To understand the need for love is to understand what drives Anna Karenina—both the character and the novel.

It's Not As Foreign As You Think
Of all the Russian novels written during the 19th-century, Anna Karenina is perhaps the most taught in college literature courses. Even so, over the years it has grown in stature to nearly mythical proportions as one of the most challenging novels to read. To give Tolstoy credit, this is a complicated, rich story with many layers and much to digest. However, it is also a lot of fun. The characters are well realized and in most cases very approachable. Their experiences, from Stiva's infidelity to Levin's firstborn child, are not so far from our modern-day understanding of life and the world. Tolstoy's prose is generous, giving its reader many ways to interpret it and a lot to consider. Once you've finished Anna Karenina, you'll not only be proud of your accomplishment, but also realize how rewarding a great summer read like this can be! As Oprah says: "Don't be scared. We will do this together." 

Try these discussion questions  to help your reading along!