安娜的勇氣與悲劇 婚外情永遠是對一夫一妻制社會價值觀的威脅與挑戰，在十九世紀的俄國傳統貴族社會亦然。
外貌美麗、情感豐富安娜在父母安排下嫁給彼得堡官僚卡倫寧為妻，多年來安於賢妻良母的生活。偶然機會結識了彼得堡貴族菁英伏倫斯基，兩人間遂迸發出強烈的激情。這段戀情讓安娜懷孕，而她雖痛悔，然在小孩出生後，仍與伏倫斯基出走。他們先是到義大利，後來落腳在伏倫斯基於俄國的莊園。由於這樣的感情並不見容於整個俄國上流社會，她雖奮勇對抗，卻也逐漸認清伏倫斯基並不可靠，兩人感情遂出現裂隙。在沮喪失望下，她來到了車站，在火車駛近時跳下月臺結束了生命。一如托爾斯泰在書中開場白所引聖經文句的伏筆：「伸冤在我，我必報應。」安娜雖有勇氣追求她的感情，但是仍逃不過整個社會價值觀的仲裁。
Anna Karenina has beauty, social position, wealth, a husband, and an adored son, but her existence seems empty. When she meets the dashing officer Count Vronsky she rejects her marriage and turns to him to fulfill her passionate nature -- with devastating results. One of the world's greatest novels, Anna Karenina is both an immortal drama of personal conflict and social scandal and a vivid, richly textured panorama of nineteenth-century Russia.
While previous versions have softened the robust, and sometimes shocking, quality of Tolstoy's writing, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have produced a magnificent translation that is true to his powerful voice. This award-winning team's authoritative edition also includes an illuminating introduction, a list of principal characters, suggestions for further reading, and full explanatory notes.
Beautiful, vigorous, and eminently readable, this Anna Karenina will be the definitive rendition for generations to come.
