Anna Karenina

Declared the "greatest novel ever written" by Time magazine in 2007, Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina tells the story of the title character and her affair with the wealthy Count Vronsky. Focusing on ideas of hypocrisy, society, progress and double standards, the novel has been called "a flawless work of art" by writers like Fyodor Dostoevsky. After socialite Anna Karenina has an affair with Count Vronsky, she learns that the Count will marry her if she is willing to leave her husband, Karenin. Under the pressure of Russian social norms, Anna agrees to leave with Vronksy to Europe. After returning to Russia, Anna is shunned by her former friends while the Count has an effortless time reintegrating into his social life. Anna becomes increasingly anxious and begins to question Vronsky's fidelity, despite his reassurances of faithfulness. In a culmination of stress and paranoia, Anna throws herself in front of a moving train.