Ten of the best births in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best births in literature.

One title on the list:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anna is haunted by a prophecy that she will die in childbirth. We are in the waiting room with the men, as Anna's lover, Vronsky, and her husband are told of the birth of a baby daughter (Vronsky's). The mother, however, has puerperal fever and will certainly die. The men are reconciled – and Anna lives.

Read about all ten births on Mullan's list.

Anna Karenina also appears on James Gray's list of best books, Marie Arana's list of the best books about love, Ha Jin's most important books list, Tom Perrotta's ten favorite books list, Claire Messud's list of her five most important books, Alexander McCall Smith's list of his five most important books, Mohsin Hamid's list of his ten favorite books, and among the top ten works of literature according to Peter Carey and Norman Mailer.

--Marshal Zeringue