What metaphors are used in Gap Creek: A Novel by Robert Morgan?

Gap Creek serves as a metaphor for nature. Gap Creek is where the novel is set, and where Hank and Julie live on Mr. Pendergast's farm. When Julie first arrives in Gap Creek, she thinks it's one of the prettiest places on earth, like a picture out of a magazine: "The valley floor was flat, winding peaceful back into the steep mountains. It was still green in the slender cove, though it was already fall on the higher slopes" (p. 51). The newly married couple's new house is nestled in the valley between two steep mountains, making their surrounding land beautiful but secluded.