Gaslighting Anna Karenina

By John Swofford

Gaslighting Anna Karenina unfolds as a layered exploration of time, memory, and identity through the life of Regina Whitaker, a woman in 2025 whose schizophrenia and treatment with risperidone unlock an uncanny ability to slip into the minds of others across history. Her journeys force her to confront versions of herself while inhabiting figures as unsettling as Adolf Hitler, raising questions about whether history can ever truly be altered or if it inevitably repeats.
Time is depicted through both a past and future constantly reshaping the present, and Regina's experiences highlight the fragile boundaries of selfhood. Central to the narrative is the author's belief in telepathic communication with Anna Karenina, who emerges not merely as a literary character but as a living presence within Regina's psyche. This "internal narrator" blends Regina's voice with Anna's, sometimes comforting, sometimes unsettling, as though Anna herself is steering Regina's thoughts.
Through this bond, Regina wrestles with attraction, jealousy, and self-image, projecting insecurities and hopes onto Anna while blurring the line between imagination and reality. The story expands into philosophical and political reflections, touching on healthcare, equity, and leadership, with Anna imagined as a figure of societal change. Ultimately, the novel invites readers into a haunting meditation on how voices-internal, historical, and literary-shape identity and connection across time, challenging us to consider what truly defines the self.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G6YTQR51
• ISBN13: 9798278736486
• Release Date: December 2025
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 181 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"