The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 plus 4 letter word HUCKLEBERRY FINN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
H
U
C
K
L
E
B
E
R
R
Y
F
I
N
N
More clues leading to the result HUCKLEBERRY FINN
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Novel character" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case novel character = huckleberry finn.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.