Set in the turbulent, colorful 1970's, What We Set in Motion finds the daughter of a prominent old South Carolina Lowcountry family fleeing to New York's Greenwich Village in pursuit of a dance career. Cut off by her disapproving father and abandoned by her would-be fiancé, Nadine Carter Barnwell must strive on her own to beat the harrowing odds. Penniless and surrounded by the temptation of dubious money-making schemes and the bitter disappointment of seeing a friend fall prey to them, Nadine battles fiercely for her place in the ultra-competitive world of dance -- only to reluctantly step away to please a man. It takes the loving, mystical intervention of her beloved aunt back in South Carolina and an unexpected letter from a young girl to set Nadine's chaotic life firmly on the path to fulfilment and the startling realization that every encounter and each choice is a milestone in the quest to forge her own destiny.