[1] It tells the story of three characters: Rosa, Magda, and Stella on their march to an internment in a Nazi concentration camp.
[2] The story follows Rosa, her baby Magda, and her niece Stella on their march to a Nazi concentration camp in the middle of winter.
Rosa is said to be a "walking cradle" because she constantly carries Magda close to her chest wrapped in her shawl.
Rosa contemplates handing Magda off to one of the villagers watching their march, but decides that the guards would most likely just shoot them both.
Ozick was inspired to write The Shawl by a line in the book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer.