The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word EMMA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
E
M
M
A
More clues leading to the result EMMA
- Half of them taking degree? That’s novel
- Mutton graduate gives girl
- Pip and this girl dated in the afternoon
- Male graduate upholding English novel
- English maiden getting married, a nineteenth-century story
- In the morning the writer brought up novel
- Some of them market a 19th-century novel
- Mrs Norman, say, rebuffed a title
- Girl imprisoned in harem, maiden
- Adapted for radio a while ago, Mann’s first novel
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "a 19th-century novel" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a 19th-century novel = emma.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.