[1] Part one of the novel, "Istoki" (Russian: Истоки, Origins) first appeared in 1928 in the Sibirskiye Ogni (Siberian Lights) magazine, issues 3 and 4.
There he met Nikolai Yefimovich Matyunin, an heir to the rich Yenisei-based merchant family who told him a lot about the history of gold-mining in this region.
[3] It is the mid-19th century Siberia, and Danila Gromov on his deathbed reveals to his son Pyotr the whereabouts of the huge wealth he had hidden in the forest, which he had collected in the old times, when being a member of the gang of criminals.
Pyotr, even if dogged by huge personal issues, including heavy drinking and mental issues (which eventually drive him into the institution), manages to build a prosperous business on this money, but even more successful proves to be his son Prokhor, a talented and purposeful young man, who creates an industrial empire all through Siberia which brings him great wealth, power and influence.
Initially, an honest man, Prokhor, through the sequence of catastrophes (including the mysterious death of his lover Anfisa, whom his father also fancies) descends into the mire of vice, betrayal, emotional turmoil and, finally madness which leads him to suicide.
[7] On 28 March 1950, speaking at the meeting commemorating Shishkov's legacy, Fedin remarked: "The Gloomy River is part of the great Russian classic literature.