Novelist's difficult year (5)
I believe the answer is:
hardy
'novelist's' is the definition.
(Hardy is a novelist)
'difficult year' is the wordplay.
'difficult' becomes 'hard' (synonyms).
'year' becomes 'y'.
'hard'+'y'='HARDY'
(Other definitions for hardy that I've seen before include "Stalwart" , "Brave" , "able to last through the winter" , "with a strong constitution" , "description of certain annuals" .)