Novel plot suppressed by a woman (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
adam bede
'novel' is the definition.
(George Eliot novel)
'plot suppressed by a woman' is the wordplay.
'plot' becomes 'bed' (a plot of land).
'suppressed' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are suppressed by others).
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'woman' becomes 'dame' (dame is a kind of woman).
'a'+'dame' is 'adame'.
'bed' going into 'adame' is 'ADAM BEDE'.
(Other definitions for adam bede that I've seen before include "Novel by George Eliot" , "Book by George Eliot" , "Carpenter" .)