Novel about bishop heading off for holy city (7)
I believe the answer is:
rebecca
'novel' is the definition.
(Daphne du Maurier novel)
'about bishop heading off for holy city' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 're' ('re' means regarding or about).
'bishop' becomes 'B' (chess abbreviation).
'heading off for' means to remove the first letter.
'holy city' becomes 'mecca' (Islamic holy city).
'mecca' with its first letter taken away is 'ecca'.
're'+'b'+'ecca'='REBECCA'
(Other definitions for rebecca that I've seen before include "Girl's name; novel title" , "Biblical wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau" , "Mrs de Winter (novel by D. Du Maurier)" , "Literary heroine" , "Daphne du Maurier novel; girl's name" .)