At the side of her neck where it shades into her shoulder there is a shallow white hollow where his attention curls and rests. (p. 69)
Alliteration: shades into her shoulder and shallow white hollow. Beautiful, soft, smooth.
Personification: where his attention curls and rests. As if it were a tired toddler settling comfortably into his bed.
Some wonderful stuff here from Updike; a writer’s writer. He sneaks these in among metaphors and similes that appear so naturally and yet I’m sure have been if not thought out and planned, a language that has become a part of the way Updike thinks.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology