An exquisite, glimmering contemporary re-imagining of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, which asks what it means for a woman to fall from grace today, from the critically acclaimed author of What A Time To Be Alive

Karro is on the cusp of her fortieth birthday, and has everything she thought she wanted: a beautiful son, a husband on the rise in British politics, a home in affluent Highgate, and enough money to lose her days to literature and the occasional dose of opium.

When Karro falls into a consuming affair with a younger American artist, her world is derailed. What begins as an awakening soon becomes a scandal, and society’s repercussions are immediate and severe. As she confronts her desires, her desperate pursuit of happiness threatens to unravel not only her sense of self, but her entire existence.

Moving seamlessly between the high-society circles of London, Stockholm, New York City and the Côte d’Azur, Karro bravely revisits the age-old concept of the fallen woman and asks what freedom looks like today. Intelligent, sensual, and searingly honest, it paints a psychologically astute portrait of a woman collapsing under the weight of motherhood and societal expectations, and forces us to weigh up our obligations to each other, and to ourselves.

'A novel of rare emotional intensity ... An exceptional achievement' Elaine Feeney

'An ingenious contemporary nod to Tolstoy's classic ... A gripping psychological exploration of family trauma, high-society performance and the devastating cost of self-alienation' Yiyun Li

‘A measured and gorgeous writer, in command of the senses in a way that makes the reader feel alive' The New York Times Book Review

'With echoes of Raven Leilani, Natalia Ginzburg and even Virginia Woolf ... I was blown away. Karro is easily Mustard’s masterpiece’ Molly Aitken

© Jenny Mustard 2027 (P) Penguin Audio 2027