Eponymous, novel character (5)
I believe the answer is:
kipps
'eponymous novel' is the definition.
'kipps' can be an answer for 'novel' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'eponymous' bit.
'character' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'character' could be 's' and 's' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'kipp' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for kipps that I've seen before include "Draper's apprentice" , "novel" .)