Girl given novel back in front of church (5)
I believe the answer is:
wench
'girl' is the definition.
(I know that wench is a type of girl)
'novel back in front of church' is the wordplay.
'novel' becomes 'new' (similar in meaning).
'back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'in front of' says to put letters next to each other.
'church' becomes 'ch' (common abbreviation).
'new' back-to-front is 'wen'.
'wen'+'ch'='WENCH'
'given' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for wench that I've seen before include "An archaic girl" , "(Young) woman" , "Servant girl" .)