Throughout Torn Thread, Isaacs employs figurative language—similes and metaphors and symbols—to express moods, develop characters, and explore themes. Isaacs uses similes and metaphors to describe the weather and the natural surroundings of Eva's world and to convey her emotions. When she learns that her father has probably died, Eva finds expression for her sadness in a sunset where "the clouds were streaked with crimson, as if the heavens were bleeding." In the camp's darkest hours, storm clouds "wheel drunkenly across the sky" and stars which have provided them with hope now appear to be no more than "fragments of broken glass." When she is liberated from the camp and takes a walk into the woods, she finds wildflowers clustered like bridal bouquets and meadows that fall away before her like a rolling ocean. This enchanting scene fills her with joy that is...