Great rice plantations once existed in coastal South Carolina. Low country swamps were transformed into productive fields by African slaves from the continent's rice-growing regions. Even today, the earthen dams are still visible, and the Gullah dialect still spoken by their descendants. A historically accurate portrayal of plantation life before the Civil War, Dark River tells a fascinating story of interdependent families, one black, the other white, and their enduring bond that spanned generations, transcending race and class amid the tragedy of slavery.