This is the story of a woman's attempt to remain true to herself in a world of diminishing returns. As a bored graduate student, Geraldine Coleshares is plucked from her too-tame existence when she is invited to tour as the only white backup singer for Vernon and Ruby Shakely and the Shakettes. The years she spends as a Shakette are a mixed blessing, however, for while they provide her with purpose and excitement, she must ultimately submit to a conventional life of marriage, children, and bittersweet memories of what comes to seem a glorious past. Geraldine tries to reconcile her past with her future, to be an adult and still boogie in her soul. The result is an insightful domestic comedy, at once hilarious and extremely moving.