Dedicated a Sterne novel (7)
I believe the answer is:
earnest
'dedicated' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a sterne novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new or novel order).
'a'+'sterne'='asterne'
'asterne' with letters rearranged gives 'EARNEST'.
(Other definitions for earnest that I've seen before include "showing seriousness" , "'Heartfelt, sincere (7)'" , "Serious - advance" , "promise" , "money involved in contract" .)