Hartley novel concerned with human life (7)
I believe the answer is:
earthly
'concerned with human life' is the definition.
'hartley novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' is an anagram indicator.
'hartley' is an anagram of 'EARTHLY'.
(Other definitions for earthly that I've seen before include "Material; worldly" , "Relating to material things" , "Terrestrial (often applied to chance)" , "No such possible chance" , "Chance (colloquial)" .)