Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

This is the first book I remember reading while one of my dearest friends read it so we could discuss it. Virtually, my first “book club” with Joan Kleinsasser Halvajian who, decades later, is a member of a monthly book club I attend. So once again, a personal favorite, as it taught me the joy of sharing ideas, content and feelings prompted by the written word.  A story set against the backdrop of Imperial Russian society in an age of vast socio-economic transformation, the story deals with issues of family, betrayal, faith , passion, and city versus rural life. It is by some considered his greatest work and has been adapted into many forms including opera, film, television, ballet and figure skating. Anna Karenina makes my top ten list. The only other meganovel I’ve read by Tolstoy is War and Peace which is brilliant, long, and filled with difficult-to-pronounce surnames. Two of his smaller works from which I benefitted having read are What is Art? and Where Love Is, There God Is Also.