The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 plus 5 letter word UNCLE TOMS CABIN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
U
N
C
L
E
T
O
M
S
C
A
B
I
N
More clues leading to the result UNCLE TOMS CABIN
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Novel" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case novel = uncle toms cabin.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.