The desperate plight of the strikingly beautiful and effervescent Anna Karenina is one of the most stirring in all of literature. In pursuit of a romance which is deemed elicit by her aristocratic clique, the story of Annas fire and passion being gradually choked by the repressive social standards of the day etches itself onto the memory. And yet, Tolstoys epic is sensitive and nuanced. Annas predicament is contrasted against the experiences of a whole range of intriguing characters. All in all, a finely detailed portrait of a Russian society in flux emerges, as the old ordering principles of social class, religion and morality are thrown into disarray. Kate Lock brings out the often unnoticed humour in one of the monuments of Russian literature. This unabridged recording will surely be the audiobook highlight of the Tolstoy year.