Leo Tolstoy · 1878 · rail

Leo Tolstoy's 1878 novel. Anna travels from St. Petersburg to Moscow to save her brother's marriage and meets Count Vronsky at the station - beginning an affair that carries her between the two capitals by rail, to Vronsky's country estate, and on a desperate trip to Italy, while Levin farms and courts Kitty in the countryside. The railway that opens the novel closes it beneath Anna's feet.

1. 1
   St. Petersburg

   The imperial capital where Anna Karenina lives with her husband Karenin, and to which she returns transformed after meeting Vronsky, her respectable life beginning to unravel.

2. 2
   Moscow

   Where Anna arrives by train to reconcile her brother Oblonsky's household and first meets Count Vronsky on the platform - a station death foreshadowing her own.

3. 3
   Vronsky's Estate

   The country estate where Anna and Vronsky retreat to live together outside society, their happiness curdling into jealousy and isolation as she is cut off from her son and her world.