Former African island in a novel (9)
I believe the answer is:
rhodesian
'former african' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'island in a novel' is the wordplay.
'island' becomes 'rhodes' (Greek island).
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new or novel order).
'in'+'a'='ina'
'ina' anagrammed gives 'ian'.
'rhodes'+'ian'='RHODESIAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rhodesian that I've seen before include "Citizen of pre-Zimbabwe state - thus he ordains" , "old countryman" , "old African" , "Zimbabwean, 1964-79" , "Large dog (from Zambia or Zimbabwe?)" .)