How does the author use imagery in the novel, Women Talking?

Throughout the novel images of light symbolize the passage of time, and work to pressurize the urgency of the women's meetings. The longer the women talk in the hayloft, the more often August notes their turns towards the windows, their observations of the sunset and the men's approaching arrival. The authorial attention to light adds tension to the otherwise fixed setting of the narrative present. Though the women's attackers are not proximal to the women, the light reminds the reader and each of the characters of the importance of their decision, of the dangers that exist beyond their immediate space.