It’s In Her Kiss
Eva kisses Isabel and everything changes. “The world pooled between Isabel’s legs.” The word choice in this metaphorical imagery could not be much simpler. Despite the simplicity it is a statement of enhanced complexity and intense sensuality. What lies between Isabel’s legs should be obvious enough, of course. The kiss from another woman changes the entire trajectory of every aspect of Isabel’s life and awakens her sexuality.
Unexpected Similes
Throughout the book, the narration pops off the pages due to the use of unusual and unexpected word choice inserted into metaphorical imagery. “Isabel could see herself from the dresser mirror: face red, mouth like a violence.” The simile comparing her mouth to “a violence” is striking and has an immediate impact. With the additional context of the following line informing the reader that she looked like she’d been crying, the exact meaning of the unusual word choice may not be cleared up but the physical image of what a mouth like violence may look like becomes more vivid.
Natural World
It is far from unexpected for a writer to turn to personifying the natural world around us to create a metaphorical connection. As usual, however, the narration here gives things an aesthetic little twist. “The sound of snow falling from the branches like a muffled word.” This simile is poignant not just because the sound made in the trees can often be mistaken for human voice but because the desolation of the wintry setting underlines the emotional tenor and tone of this particular section of the narrative.
Heavenly Bodies
Clearly the style of prose engaged in this novel is not content with going for the mundane when poetic flights of fancy are possible. For instance, something as simple as the appearance of the moon and a star in the sky offers the potential for creating an imaginative image through metaphorical language. “A single star came out under the waning moon; a beauty mark dotted under a coy eye.” The description here is another example of the efficiency and effectiveness of simple word choice. The specificity of the moon being not just an eye in the sky but one gazing down coquettishly upon the inhabitants of planet earth adds just enough information to clarify exactly what the characters in the story are looking at in the sky.
Sexual Feasting
Towards the middle of the narrative, the subject turns to sex. The action is often explicit but the language is never pornographic. “Isabel ate her, the loud suck of a full-ripe fruit; she ate the flesh and the seeds and the core and all.” This sentence is all metaphorical rendering of a literal sex act taking place between two women. The remarkable thing is that one could take away the surrounding literal context of the action and drop this same sentence elsewhere in the book and it would still be an effective depiction of this relationship on a completely metaphorical level.
