The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 3 plus 3 letter word ROOM AT THE TOP
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
R
O
O
M
A
T
T
H
E
T
O
P
More clues leading to the result ROOM AT THE TOP
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 = room at the top.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.