Anna Karenina is a novel, first published in book form in 1878, by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial installments from 1875 to 1877, all but the last part appearing in the periodical The Russian Messenger. By the time he was finishing up the last installments, Tolstoy was in an anguished state of mind and, having come to hate it but finished it unwillingly.