Black Paint Simile
"Her hair spilled down her back like black paint."
Grinny's hair is long and shiny and rather than having the appearance of lots of strands it looks like one enormous splash of color as if a can was opened and her hair spilled out of it. The simile also gives her hair an air of independence almost as though it has an identity of its own.
Green Bud Simile
"She burst open like a green bud into color."
Ann Jolly was usually nondescript, but once a young lawyer catches her eye she blossoms into something beautiful and unexpected.
Dishrag Simile
"I was like a broom or a dishrag that anyone else might pick up and use, and put aside without a thought when they were done with me."
Misskaella Prout uses this simile to compare herself to something utilitarian and commonplace that is only given attention when needed, and once used is cast aside again without further thought. She is conscious that people do not come to her for friendship or to ask after her but only come when they want something.
Brooch Simile
"This was not the child I had planned, as separate from me as a badge or a brooch."
Misslaela always believed that a child would feel like part of her, that they would feel naturally connected, but discovers with dismay that she feels separate and unconnected and that her child feels like an addition to her, not an addition that is from her.
Sealskin Simile
"It was as if you found yourself right down in the slime at the bottom of the sea with nothing above you but black water."
this simile describes the sensation of trying on a deal skin, which is all-encompassing and oppressive as well as overpoweringly heavy.
