Anna Karenina is a novel of unparalleled richness and complexity, set against th
e backdrop of Russian high society. Tolstoy charts the course of the doomed love
affair between Anna, a beautiful married woman, and Count Vronsky, a wealthy ar
my officer who pursues Anna after becoming infatuated with her at a ball. Althou
gh she initially resists his charms Anna eventually succumbs, falling passionate
ly in love and setting in motion a chain of events that lead to her downfall.
