The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word PUCKOON
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
P
U
C
K
O
O
N
More clues leading to the result PUCKOON
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "a little novel" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a little novel = puckoon.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.