The Next Chapter·Dog-Eared Reads

Why novelist Michelle Alfano can't put down Leo Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina

Michelle Alfano is the author of The Unfinished Dollhouse and she loves to re-read Anna Karenina.
Michelle Alfano is a lifelong admirer of Leo Tolstoy's novel, Anna Karenina. (Rob Alfano/Penguin Classics)

Michelle Alfano is the author of The Unfinished Dollhouse. As a devoted reader, she has found something to return to in Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina.

"I've found in various periods of my life, I've viewed Anna Karenina in different ways. As a very young woman, I was entranced by the drama and romance between Anna and Vronsky. As I got older, I was more concerned about her relationship as a married woman in a very complicated situation. Now, in the later phase of my life, I find I'm more obsessed with Anna's relationship with her son and the torture she underwent when she was separated from him. I find that I'm evolving as a woman and a human and viewing it through a different prism every time I read it."

Michelle Alfano's comments have been edited and condensed.