Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Many writers consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever. Anna Karenina is one of the most loved and memorable heroines of literature. Anna Karenina has beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son, but feels that her life is empty until she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. The plot centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and Vronsky. A complex novel in eight parts, with more than a dozen major characters. It deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. city life. The novel explores a diverse range of topics throughout its approximately one thousand pages. Some of these topics include an evaluation of the feudal system that existed in Russia at the time—politics, not only in the Russian government but also at the level of the individual characters and families, religion, morality, gender and social class.