Analyzing Diction and Syntax in Prose

Read the following excerpt from a fictional prose piece:

"Her fingers trembled as they brushed against the frayed edge of the photograph, a relic of a time buried beneath layers of dust and regret. It was then, in the half-light of the waning afternoon, that she felt the weight of memories draped over her shoulders, as heavy and suffocating as a damp winter coat. Each face in the picture smiled back at her, their laughter a haunting echo, vibrating in the recesses of her mind like the distant tolling of a bell that never ceased. How could moments this vivid fade into mere whispers of the past?"

In this excerpt, analyze the author’s diction and syntax. What effect does the author achieve through their choice of words and sentence structure?