A father's wise rewriting of an idiot's novel (1,7,2,5)
I believe the answer is:
a passage to india
'novel' is the definition.
(novel by EM Forster)
'a father's wise rewriting of an idiot's' is the wordplay.
'father's' becomes 'pa's' (pa can mean dad or father).
'wise' becomes 'sage' (similar in meaning).
'rewriting of' indicates an anagram.
'an'+'idiot'='anidiot'
'anidiot' anagrammed gives 'toindia'.
'a'+'pas'+'sage'+'toindia'='A PASSAGE TO INDIA'
(Other definitions for a passage to india that I've seen before include "taken by hippies seeking guru?" , "Book" , "E.M. Forster novel" , "a journey that ends up in the subcontinent" , "Novel's" .)