it may have been realistic from Tolstoy's point of view, but that does necessarily make the world Tolstoy built to behave in a certain way an accurate depiction of the real world.

As a comparison, a very large number of people would say that "Evil is meant to lose and lose badly here, while Good gets its' rewards." will be an accurate depction of reality at a certain time. It doesn't make them right.

It also doesn't make them wrong. But the point is that if you have trouble suspending disbelief because people do not suffer enough, or act strangely, or get supernatural assistance, or whatnot, the fault is generally yours and not that of the author. You can believe anything if you try.