Anna Karenina is one of the most loved and memorable heroines ofliterature. Her overwhelming charm dominates a novel of unparalleledrichness and density.Tolstoy considered this book to be his first real attempt at a novelform, and it addresses the very nature of society at all levels, of destiny,death, human relationships and the irreconcilable contradictionsof existence. It ends tragically, and there is much that evokes despair,yet set beside this is an abounding joy in life’s many ephemeral pleasures,and a profusion of comic relief.