In the Beginning Was the Sea (original Spanish title: Primero estaba el mar) is a 1983 novel by the Colombian novelist Tomas Gonzalez.
The novel is set in the Gulf of Uraba in Antioquia, in the remote northeast corner of Colombia's Caribbean coast.
It recounts, in fictional form, the life and death of the novelist's older brother Juan Emiliano who was murdered on his farm in Titumate in 1977.
He migrated to Miami with his family before the book could be launched, and stayed in the US for the next two decades.
It was not until 2001, when Editorial Norma brought out a new edition, that it gained wider circulation and recognition.