Novel supporter in the flesh perhaps (5)
I believe the answer is:
shelf
'novel supporter in' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how they can define each other.
'flesh perhaps' is the wordplay.
'perhaps' indicates an anagram.
'flesh' is an anagram of 'SHELF'.
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for shelf that I've seen before include "Support for holding objects" , "Horizontal surface for holding things" , "Flat surface for holding things" , "board" , "sort of life" .)