120,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

🌸 Our Spring Sale is here! Save on Books, Toys, & Puzzles! With overnight NZ-wide delivery 🎉

Anna Karenina

4.1 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 943,351 ratings, 43,974 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Anna Karenina is Leo Tolstoy's evocative tale of doomed love set in nineteenth-century Russia. It follows Anna, who leaves a respectable but oppressive marriage for a passionate affair, facing conflicts between her own happiness, her son, societal status, and rigid social expectations. Parallel to her story is Levin's journey—a young agnostic searching for faith and fulfillment amidst repression. The novel richly portrays life across social classes and explores deep themes of love, purpose, and personal struggle.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of Anna Karenina. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This classic novel is ideal for readers interested in profound explorations of love and society, fans of Russian literature, and those who appreciate complex character studies and historical settings.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A powerful translation of the classic Russian novel - retells the tale of rebellious Anna and her ill-fated, adulterous romance with Count Vronsky amid the turmoil of nineteenth-century Russia. Reissue.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Leo Tolstoy's evocative tale of doomed love—one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.

Anna Karenina startled the world with its powerful portrayal of the human need for love and purpose. In a story that brings to vivid life nineteenth-century Russia across various social classes, Anna renounces a respectable yet stifling marriage for a passionate affair that weighs her happiness against her love for her son, her family's status, and the rigid demands of society. Her story contrasts with that of Levin, a young self-doubting agnostic who takes a different journey to fulfilment and finds faith and satisfaction in an age of repression.

Considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century, Anna Karenina has been called Tolstoy's spiritual autobiography. Anna and Levin personify Tolstoy's lifelong struggle to reconcile his physical desires and intellectual ideals in order to create a more meaningful existence.

Translated by David Magarshack
Includes an Introduction by Priscilla Meyer

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780451528612

Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 November 2002

Country: United States

Imprint: Signet Classics

Audience: General / adult, Children

DIMENSIONS

Width: 105.0mm

Height: 172.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 960

About the Author

Count Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. Orphaned at nine, he was brought up by an elderly aunt and educated by French tutors until he matriculated at Kazan University in 1844. In 1847, he gave up his studies and, after several aimless years, volunteered for military duty in the army, serving as a junior officer in the Crimean War before retiring in 1857. His diary, started in 1847, was used for self-study and self-criticism; it served as the source from which he drew much of the material that appeared not only in his great novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), but also in his shorter works. Seeking religious justification for his life, Tolstoy evolved a new Christianity based upon his own interpretation of the Gospels. Yasnaya Polyana became a Mecca for his many converts. At the age of eighty-two, while away from home, the writer suffered a breakdown in his health in Astapovo, Riazan, and he died there on November 20, 1910.

Also by Leo Tolstoy

View all
  • On Sale
    19% off
    War And Peace
    The acclaimed new translation of Tolstoy's masterpiece, for the first time in Black Classics after the successful hardback and Red Classics editions—10,000+ hardbacks and, by the time of Black Classics, 20,000+ of Red Classics sold. At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Usually:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich
    46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Launched in 2015, the extraordinarily successful Little Black Classics series has now sold nearly 1 million copies in the UK alone and over 2 million worldwide, making their way into retailers such as Tesco and the series' most popular book. This...
    Paperback
    $800
    Elsewhere:
    $999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Anna Karenina
    Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is part of the Penguin Classics relaunch. This edition features the award-winning new translation of the great Russian novel. Exploring themes of love, betrayal, and the complexity of human relationships, Anna Karenina is a compelling narrative that delves into the intricacies of 19th-century Russian society. Tolstoy's masterful storytelling invites readers into the lives of unforgettable...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Master and Man and Other Stories
    The ten stories collected in this volume demonstrate Tolstoy's artistic prowess displayed over five decades, experimenting with prose styles and drawing on his own experiences with humour, realism, and compassion. Inspired by his experiences in the army, The Two Hussars contrasts a dashing father and his mean-spirited son. Illustrating Tolstoy's belief that art must serve a moral purpose, What Men...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories
    Magnificent new translation of Tolstoy's fiction by the acclaimed duo behind War and Peace. 'As good as anything Tolstoy ever wrote... Self-assured, vital, unforgettable' — Guardian The title story of this collection is about a man battling a mysterious illness. His family visit his bedside, their faces masks of concern. His colleagues pay their respects but only think of the...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • What is Art?
    Tolstoy's controversial treatise on the purpose of Art During his decades of world fame as a novelist, Tolstoy also wrote prolifically in a series of essays and polemics on issues of morality, social justice and religion. These works culminated in What is Art?, published in 1898. Impassioned and iconoclastic, this powerfully influential work both criticises the elitist nature of art...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • War And Peace
    A stunning clothbound edition of Tolstoy's great novel, soon to be a major BBC drama. At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia, and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical...
    Hardback
    $5000
    Elsewhere:
    $5500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Death Ivan Ilych and other stories (riverrun editions)
    "How truth thickens and deepens when it migrates from didactic fable to the raw experience of a visceral awakening is one of the thrills of Tolstoy's stories." Sharon Cameron in her preface to The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories Tolstoy wrote in many genres for different audiences. In this, the first of three volumes of his shorter fiction...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Cossacks
    Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. The Cossacks follows Dmitry Andreich Olenin, who, in the hope of escaping the hollowness of his privilege, joins the army and heads to the Caucasus. There among the foothills, he will meet the Cossacks—a people he considers...
    Hardback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Resurrection
    A new translation by Tony Briggs of Tolstoy's last major novel. Resurrection (1899) tells the story of a nobleman's attempt to redeem the suffering his youthful philandering inflicted on a peasant girl who ends up a prisoner in Siberia. Tolstoy's vision of redemption achieved through loving forgiveness, and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Childhood, Boyhood, Youth
    A superb new translation by Judson Rosengrant of Tolstoy's semi-autobiographical trilogy. Leo Tolstoy began his trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, in his early twenties. Although he would in his old age famously dismiss it as an 'awkward mixture of fact and fiction', generations of readers have not agreed. Readers find the novel to be a charming and insightful portrait of inner...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Cossacks and Other Stories
    Part of the Penguin Classics' fresh new editions of Tolstoy's major works - including Antony Briggs' stunning new translation of War and Peace. In 1851, at the age of twenty-two, Tolstoy joined the Russian army and travelled to the Caucasus as a soldier. The four years that followed were among the most significant in his life, and deeply influenced the...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Fourth Wing
    THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NUMBER ONE GLOBAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON! DON'T MISS OUT ON THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'This book contains an addictive, drug-like essence that will make you relinquish all responsibility until the very last word. Do not say I didn't warn you' Glamour 'I didn't sleep, I didn't eat, and when I finished, I...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Iron Flame
    The instant number one Sunday Times bestseller and thrilling sequel to the global phenomenon, Fourth Wing! DON'T BE THE LAST TO DISCOVER THE SERIES THAT EVERYONE CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT: 'Yarros is the true inheritor of Harry Potter and inspires Hunger Games levels of devotion' Guardian 'Fear not, levels of fighting, rebelliousness and all-round sexiness are still sky-high' Daily Mail...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses
    The first instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON and TikTok sensation, from multi-million selling and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan – Time Harry Potter magic, Taylor Swift sass, Fifty Shades-level athleticism – The Sunday Times With bits of Buffy, Game of Thrones and Outlander, this is a glorious series...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    New Release
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition. Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • A Court of Silver Flames
    The latest instalment of the GLOBAL PHENOMENON, romantic fantasy epic and TikTok sensation, ACOTAR. From multi-million and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas. Maas has established herself as a fantasy fiction titan - Time Think Game of Thrones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a drizzle of E.L. James – Telegraph Spiced with slick plotting and atmospheric world-building...
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Kneel Before Me
    New Release
    Kneel Before Me
    Daphne never meant to want him - the monster who could destroy her... and the only one who never would. Now they're both caught between Their duties and their love. Daphne Verus never planned to compete for the prince. Now she's expected to trade the safety of her village for the caves beneath the mountain and be trained by Kronos...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Insatiable
    **THIS PAPERBACK EDITION FEATURES BRAND-NEW EXCLUSIVE CHARACTER ARTWORK, AS WELL AN ICONIC QUOTE ON THE INSIDE COVER!** From USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation comes the gripping, steamy dark romance series that everyone is talking about!'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and...
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    20% off
    New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    Hardback
    $4800
    Usually:
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Daggermouth
    New Release
    Daggermouth
    Daggermouth is one of the best dystopian romances I've ever read." Clio Evans, author of Broken Beginnings. He Is Her Ruin. She Is His Rebellion. The first thing you'll learn in New Found Haven is mercy no longer exists. Showing mercy is a weakness, and weakness will get you killed. The second thing is this — the Veyra are always...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!