The Grim River

“The Sullen River” is a famous book by Vyacheslav Shishkov that tells the fates of several generations of the same family. The hero’s grandfather, Danila, made money dishonestly and, before his death, told his son Pyotr about it. Trying to atone for his father’s guilt, Pyotr invested the money into developing his region and became a wealthy merchant. His son Prokhor initially lived up to his father’s expectations, but gradually turned greedy and treacherous, which led to his downfall. The book is based on real events connected to Siberia’s “gold rush,” and it was read by Alexey Bagdasarov.