Anna Karenina is Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece of Russian literature—a novel that William Faulkner called "the greatest ever written."
The story follows Anna, a beautiful and aristocratic married woman in 19th-century St. Petersburg. When she meets the dashing cavalry officer Count Vronsky, she embarks on a passionate affair that scandalizes high society. As Anna sacrifices her marriage, her reputation, and even her son for love, she finds herself increasingly isolated, consumed by jealousy, and trapped by the very passion that once set her free.
Parallel to Anna's tragedy is the story of Konstantin Levin, a landowner searching for meaning in faith, work, and family. Levin's journey of self-discovery—widely considered semi-autobiographical of Tolstoy himself—grounds the novel in the eternal questions of how to live a good life.
First published in serial form from 1873 to 1877, Anna Karenina has been hailed as "flawless as a work of art" by Dostoevsky. Its famous opening line—"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way"—introduces a novel of extraordinary psychological depth, social criticism, and timeless insight into the human heart.
This audiobook is based on the public domain English translation by Constance Garnett. Produced and narrated by Doushu, with AI assistance.
