Direction and distance leading to Zola? (5)
I believe the answer is:
emile
'zola?' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'direction and distance' is the wordplay.
'direction' becomes 'e' (E is an example).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'distance' becomes 'mile' (mile is a unit of distance).
'e'+'mile'='EMILE'
'leading to' is the link.
(Other definitions for emile that I've seen before include "Frenchman" , "- - Zola, writer" .)